Direct Red: A Surgeon’s View of Her Life-or-Death Profession

The continuing popularity of doctor shows on TV—from Scrubs, House, and Grey’s Anatomy to the television phenomenon ER—indicates a widespread fascination with all things medical. Direct Red, by practicing ear, nose, and throat surgical specialist Gabriel Weston, takes readers behind the scenes and into the operating room for a fascinating look at what really goes on on the other side of the hospital doors. “A Surgeon’s View of her Life-and-Death Profession,” Weston’s Direct Red is written not only with knowledge and insight, but with compassion, honesty, and literary flair.

This collection of visceral and beautifully written essays explores the moments that define a surgeon:

• Operating Room Stories: The heart-pounding tension between speed and competence, where a surgeon’s hesitation can be as fatal as a slip of the knife.
• Life as a Surgeon: The paradoxical art of getting close to patients while maintaining the distance necessary to wield a scalpel, especially when faced with intimacy, sexuality, and fear.
• Medical Ethics: The gray areas of a life-or-death profession, from the moral ambiguity of cosmetic procedures to the brutal choices made in the name of saving a life.
• Doctor Memoir: A journey from a cocky medical student to a seasoned professional who understands that the greatest challenges are not always on the operating table, but in confronting one’s own ambition, fear, and humanity.