The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living

October 31, 2005
New York City physician Clayton has put together a guidebook that should be a godsend for young adults with fast-paced, hard-partying lifestyles. He addresses popular vices from smoking, drinking and junk food bingeing to having multiple sex partners and doing recreational drugs. Clayton's view is that it's possible to reduce the negative side effects of such behaviors and minimize the risks associated with occasional poor choices. Naturally, he advocates making healthy choices to begin with, but being an urban 30-something himself, he realizes that since this won't always happen, it's better to be armed with the facts—and some great tips for damage control. Want to avoid a hangover? Lower the risks of smoking? Concoct a "morning after" pill? Avoid testing positive for drugs on a job interview? Clayton explains all in intelligent but easygoing language, as well as ways to deal with work stress, problems with sexual performance, STDs and dieting. Using real life examples and maintaining a sense of humor throughout, Clayton is the kind of unshockable, practical—but hip—doctor that any young person would be delighted—and relieved—to consult. Agents, Emily Nurkin and Laura Yorke.

November 1, 2005
There are many guides to healthy living written for people over 40 -Jeanne Wei and Sue Levkoff's" Aging Well: The Complete Guide to Physical and Emotional Health"; James Fries's" Living Well: Taking Care of Yourself in the Middle and Later Years". Clayton, however, targets young professionals and provides practical, compassionate, nonjudgmental advice on how to make intelligent risk-reducing lifestyle choices. This approach shines in the chapters on alcohol abuse, diets, sexual performance improvement, and unwise sexual choices. Clayton wisely discourages tobacco and drug abuse (illegal and prescription); both conventional and complementary medicine therapies are discussed. Bad habits not mentioned include unsafe driving (and other potentially injurious actions) and unhealthy eating habits that contribute to cancer and cardiovascular diseases. A breezy, late-night comedy delivery is interspersed with some complex medical explanations. Overall, this is a relatively quick, informative read, though a list of resources is noticeably lacking. Best placed in urban public and consumer health libraries where interest warrants." -Janice Flahiff, Medical Univ. Lib. of Ohio, Toledo"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.