Imagine a long conversation with a man who keeps you engrossed from the first word – that’s pretty much what this book is. That is both good and bad, frankly. The very conversational tone of this book can get annoying – at times I felt that I was being examined on the points – but the overwhelming effect of this book is that you are fascinated and enthralled, both by Dr Patten’s insights and courage and by the courage and resilience of his patients. That he comes from an age of medicine where the patient, rather than the cost, matters is evident from the start, and that he cares deeply is equally evident. I felt privileged to read his “adventures.”
Neurology Rounds with the Maverick is one of the most informative and entertaining neurology books. Within these real life medical stories is a lot of personal wisdom and insight about how the way we treat sick people has changed. Some of them are mundane, yet still humorous to hear in Dr. Patten’s unique way of speaking. Some are genuine medical mysteries that would be difficult to diagnose even now, let alone in the “golden age of medicine” when Patten practiced. Prepare to be fascinated by all the ways brain damage and other neurological illness can affect human life, and take a look back at a simpler time in medicine.
The tone of this excellent book is set by the author in a ‘general conversation with the reader’ – "I know I am from a bygone era, an era when life was quite different, an era that included what is now considered by doctors as the golden age of medicine. It was an interesting time for doctors because there were few administrators, the insurance companies did not interfere with medical practice, and, believe it or not, money was not a big issue. There was less technology so doctors relied on, had to rely