Island Practice

May 21, 2012
Belluck, a health writer for the New York Times, introduces readers to Dr. Timothy Lepore, an eccentric jack-of-all-trades practicing in Nantucketâhe's a surgeon, physician, psychiatrist, and occasional veterinarian, and he's got a cache of 200 guns booby-trapped with tear gas. In page-turning prose, Belluck details some of Lepore's remarkable cases and his decidedly unique methods of diagnosing and treating patients (e.g., if a patient wants to leave the hospital before Lepore gives the go-ahead, he "just takes their pants away"). When 56-year-old Elliot Norton came in with a droopy lip and feeling generally unwell, Lepore thought "Something smell wrong," and ordered a CAT scan, revealing several potentially deadly aneurysms. He even saved the toes of a two-month-old by spotting the rare "toe-tourniquet syndrome," which is caused by hair wrapping around infants' toes and cutting off circulation. Truly dedicated to his community, Lepore allows patients to come to his home, provides treatment in trade (opting for cookies or a handgun in lieu of cash), and though he doesn't agree with legalizing marijuana ("people don't handle it right in this culture"), he'll procure weed brownies for cancer patients. Inspiring and entertaining, Lepore's story and his beloved island come to life in Belluck's hands.

April 15, 2012
In this absorbing debut, award-winning New York Times staff writer Belluck chronicles the daily life of a maverick physician and the Nantucket community he serves. In addition to his job as head of medicine at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, Dr. Timothy Lepore, a general surgeon, also runs a family practice and serves as the physician for the high-school football team--those are only his official jobs. Not only is his role "central to the health and life of a community in ways that rarely occur these days," writes the author, but it is also exemplary of the art of healing. "His unconventional story shows...that what really matters is the time, effort, conviction, and care that a doctor provides." Lepore is a larger-than-life figure on Nantucket, and his quirks are the stuff of legend--e.g., he carves scalpels from obsidian using stone-age techniques, and he hunts with a pet hawk. Also legendary are his diagnostic skills and dedication to his patients. Over the 30 years that he has practiced medicine on the island, Lepore has dealt with medical emergencies at times when weather conditions prevented the transfer of a patient to a specialist on the mainland. He has treated celebrities on summer vacation, including members of the Kennedy family, but the year-rounders, many of whom work in low-wage jobs in the tourist industry, form the core of his practice. Widely traveled summer tourists may suffer exotic diseases that challenge his expertise, but depression, alcohol abuse and teen suicide are endemic on the island. Under Lepore's leadership, Nantucket's hospital has played a crucial role in maintaining the community's health, but it is becoming less sustainable. "The cost of providing free care to poor and uninsured patients ha[s] grown by 60 percent," writes Belluck. Notes the hospital's CEO, "We kept up with the medical care, but not with the business of medical care." An intriguing biography of a unique--and on Nantucket, irreplaceable--doctor.

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June 15, 2012

Belluck's (health & science reporter, New York Times) account of Tim Lepore--the only full-time surgeon in Nantucket, MA, who also plays many other roles--begins by describing boatloads of local characters. Though this device feels a bit disorienting, it mirrors Lepore's highly unpredictable life. Grim descriptions of serious medical trauma follow, but Belluck renders Lepore's humour, compassion, and pragmatism in such a way that infuses the narrative with balance and humanity. For readers who have never been to Nantucket, Belluck's writing may dissuade them from making the trip, what with the tick diseases and sporting injuries--fish-hook through the eyeball, anyone? On the other hand, her descriptions of life in the close-knit community will make readers feel as if they've summered on Nantucket for years, all under the watchful medical eye of Lepore. VERDICT This is a riveting portrait of a dynamic, headstrong physician. Medical nonfiction fans will find much to enjoy. Lepore may remind readers of Dr. Paul Farmer from Tracy Kidder's Mountains Beyond Mountains.--Rachael Dreyer, American Heritage Ctr., Laramie, WY

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.