Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
Apr 2003 · Sold by Metropolitan Books
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2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction
“No one writes about medicine as a human subject as well as Atul Gawande. His stories about becoming a surgeon are scary, funny, absorbing....Complications is a uniquely soulful book about the science of mending bodies.” —Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge. This book is exploratory surgery on medicine itself, laying bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.
In dramatic and revealing stories of patients and doctors, he explores how deadly mistakes occur and why good surgeons go bad. At once tough-minded and humane, Complications is a new kind of medical writing, nuanced and lucid, unafraid to confront the conflicts and uncertainties that lie at the heart of modern medicine, yet always alive to the possibilities of wisdom in this extraordinary endeavor.
“No one writes about medicine as a human subject as well as Atul Gawande. His stories about becoming a surgeon are scary, funny, absorbing....Complications is a uniquely soulful book about the science of mending bodies.” —Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon
In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge. This book is exploratory surgery on medicine itself, laying bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is—uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human.
In dramatic and revealing stories of patients and doctors, he explores how deadly mistakes occur and why good surgeons go bad. At once tough-minded and humane, Complications is a new kind of medical writing, nuanced and lucid, unafraid to confront the conflicts and uncertainties that lie at the heart of modern medicine, yet always alive to the possibilities of wisdom in this extraordinary endeavor.
2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction
“No one writes about medicine as a human subject as well as Atul Gawande. His stories about becoming a surgeon are scary, funny, absorbing....Complications is a uniquely soulful book about the science of mending bodies.” —Adam Gopnik, author of Pa...
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Ratings and reviews
83 reviews
Ruth Anne Blue
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August 31, 2020
We all know physicians are human and, therefore, fallible. This work reminds me of the difficult decisions they face on a daily basis. I hope it helps me be a better, and more informed, patient. It was a riveting work impossible to put down. I finished at 2:28a.m.
2 people found this review helpful
Lisa N.
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September 14, 2025
Very interesting, & especially well-written. If you enjoy reading about the medical field I strongly recommend this book, & be sure to check out others by this author.
Sudo Woodo (Pseudocrat)
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July 3, 2013
I really enjoyed this novel and the insight it provided. It was easier to relate to than most doctors. I read a physical copy but I am sure the digital does not taint the experience.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Atul Gawande is the author of four bestselling books: Complications, a finalist for the National Book Award; Better; The Checklist Manifesto; and Being Mortal. He is also a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and a professor at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Public Health. He has won the Lewis Thomas Prize for Writing about Science, a MacArthur Fellowship, and two National Magazine Awards. In his work in public health, he is Founder and Chair of Ariadne Labs, a joint center for health systems innovation, and Lifebox, a nonprofit organization making surgery safer globally. He is also chair of Haven, where he was CEO from 2018–2020. He and his wife have three children and live in Newton, Massachusetts.
Atul Gawande is the author of four bestselling books: Complications, a finalist for the National Book Award; Better; The Checklist Manifesto; and Being Mortal. He is also a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and a professor at Harvard Medical Sch...
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