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In this "vividly compelling" New York Times Notable Book, a surgeon recounts his experiences in war zones (The Washington Post).
From treating the casualties of apartheid in Cape Town to operating on Kurdish guerrillas in Northern Iraq at the end of the Gulf War, Jonathan Kaplan has saved (and lost) lives in the remotest corners of the world in the most extreme conditions. He has been a hospital surgeon, a ship's physician, an air-ambulance doctor, and a trauma surgeon. He has worked in locations as diverse as England, Burma, Eritrea, the Amazon, Mozambique, and the United States.
In his "eloquent . . . beautifully written" memoir of unforgettable adventure and tragedy, Dr. Kaplan explores the great challenge of his career—to maintain his humanity in the face of incredible pain and suffering (The New York Times Book Review). "Packed with moments of searing intensity," The Dressing Station is an "extraordinary" look into the nature of human violence, the shattering contradictions of war, and the complicated role of medicine in the modern world (The Washington Post).
"In this refreshingly unsentimental memoir, [Kaplan] offers a vivid look at what it's like to practice medicine in places where there are always too many casualties and not enough resources. His descriptions of surgery are unflinching . . . Kaplan gives us a remarkable self-portrait of the war junkie." —The New Yorker
“Here to haunt us with extraordinary tales of blood and mayhem comes a doctor driven by some primordial thirst for danger and excitement to turn his back on riches and become a battlefield surgeon in small wars. Kaplan’s account of the wars in Ethiopia and Kurdistan in unforgettable, and his writing is superb. This is a medical memoir unlike any other, worth reading if only for the terrible beauty of its descriptions of the way flesh cleaves under the scalpel, the dark welling of blood from ruptured veins, and the author’s musings on what it means to hold someone’s life in your hands.”—Rian Malan
“[R]efreshingly unsentimental . . . His descriptions of surgery are unflinching. . . . Kaplan gives us a remarkable self-portrait of the war junkie. . . . Though he lets us see close up the devastation of modern warfare, he is also painfully honest about the allure the war holds for him.”—The New Yorker
“The Dressing Station is packed with moments of searing intensity. Kaplan conveys the same gripping urgency whether he is negotiating a deep, shrapnel-torn abdominal cavity, crossing a mountain path to deliver colleagues and equipment to a battle zone surgical tent–the ‘dressing station” of the title–or improvising a slapdash razor to perform a skin graft in a field hospital days away from any real equipment. At the same time, he has a keen sense of the smaller moments that leaven the agonies of daily life. . . . The Dressing Station is an extraordinary book.”—Julian B. Orenstein, Washington Post Book World
“The Dressing Station is an important chronicle of the life on an uncommon surgeon and it provides a startling glimpse of battlefield surgery in those conflicts that CNN does not cover. Think M*A*S*H, but sans helicopters, stretchers, food, plasma, medicines or doctors (save for the odd volunteer like Kaplan.)”—Abraham Verghese, New York Times Book Review
“Exceptional . . . [Kaplan] is unafraid to look within at his own fears and motivations. . . . The Dressing Station encourages respect for the author’s courage and wonder at the gift that can turn a bloody, messy world into writing that is so wonderful to read.”—The Economist
“We all know that war is hell, but very few of us know that section of the inferno where the wounded and dying are taken. With his brilliant nonfiction debut, The Dressing Station, Dr. Jonathan Kaplan has remedied that. . . . In composing this gripping memoir, Kaplan has performed a considerable redemptive act–not only for himself, but also for the ones he lost and writes about so movingly.”—Michael Swindle, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“The Dressing Station is a fast, gritty, shocking read, a parachute-drop of a book that is as fascinating as it is, at times, horrifying. . . . Kaplan’s writing is spare, passionate, precise as the surgeon’s blade he wields.”—Robin Kirk, Raleigh News & Observer
“For anyone who is interested in the practice of medicine beyond our shores, and the impact of conflict and poverty on the human condition, Kaplan’s book is a must. The Dressing Station is written with flowing prose and vivid description. He brings his story to a personal level, both from the physician’s and patient’s points of view.”—Nancy Jacobsen, Rocky Mountain News
“[The Dressing Station] illuminates the consequences of war and the ambiguities of relief work at a time when these issues couldn’t matter more.”—Caroline Fraser, Outside
“Kaplan writes eloquently and forcefully about the role of medicine in a violent world.”—Stan Brennan, The Charlotte Observer
“The true value of Kaplan’s book may be in its clarity of purpose. . . . Kaplan’s insight into this motivations and the sometimes ironic parallels he draws between his dressing station patients and those in this urban practice offer a fascinating view of the nature of medicine. Overall, The Dressing Station is a clear examination and worthy reminder of war’s ultimate victims.”—The Charles King Page
“Kaplan’s reflections on the social and political situations he encounters in his travels, his strong sense of social justice, and his romance with adventure and risk-taking set this well-written book apart from the usual medical autobiography. . . . A fine book.”—Edna B. Quinn, Magill’s Literary Annual
“Surgeon-cum-journalist and documentary filmmaker Kaplan travels to the edges of the world and back in this confident, gripping debut. . . . Kaplan is an eloquent, observant narrator. And at the heart of these beautifully written adventures, a rich human drama unfolds.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A surgeon’s graphic report on frontline medical work in one war-torn landscape of misery after another. . . . Remarkable and God-awful.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Jonathan Kaplan’s surgical odyssey is a curt, human, and intelligent reminder of the battlefield’s realities. He is a great storyteller; vivid, honest, and unpretentious, he bravely allows jaw-dropping horror to follow moments of hurtful revelation attained in futile blood red landscapes.”—Paul Dale, The List (UK)
“Kaplan has brought a clinical certainty to his reporting: he exposes the humanity of the most gruesome events with a few unflinching strokes and re-creates the drama of the world’s makeshift emergency rooms in deft paragraphs. As a result, his book feels very much a document of our times.”—Tim Adams, The Observer (UK)
“[M]oving and beautifully written . . . Kaplan is not your average medical man. He’s a maverick; he likes the edge, he loves the thrill of improvisation, and he exults, quietly, that he is able to savelives, although too few, too few. . . . The Dressing Station is simply unforgettable.”—702 Talk Radio (South Africa)
Jonathan Kaplan’s The Dressing Station was a New York Times Notable Book, a Washington Post Book World “Rave,” and winner of South Africa’s top literary honor, the Alan Paton Award. Kaplan continues to take periodic assignments as a volunteer surgeon in war zones between hospital posts, documentary filmmaking, academic trauma-surgery teaching, and working as a journalist.