Ben Carson, MD, works medical miracles. Today, he's one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in the world. In "Gifted Hands", he tells of his inspiring odyssey from his childhood in inner-city Detroit to his position as director of pediatric neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital at age 33. Ben Carson is a role model for anyone who attempts the seemingly impossivle as he takes you into the operating room where he has saved countless lives.
Filled with fascinating case histories, this is the dramatic and intimate story of Ben Carson's struggle to beat the odds-and of the faith and genius that make him one of the greatest life-givers of the century."



Xyzzy (USA: CA) (2010/12/26):
I've read a few different surgical autobiographies, but this one really left a sour taste in my mouth. I grew up as the patient of an internationally top-ranked pediatric surgeon that loved "his kids" and inspired me greatly; this isn't a topic I'm inexperienced with.

First, the good part... The early part of this book, when Carson is very young and struggling with losing his father & a bad neighborhood, is quite interesting. (It's not as well-written as it could have been, but as another surgeon-autobiographer quipped in his book, you wouldn't want a famous writer operating on you, either.) Some of the clinical descriptions much later on are likewise appealing for anybody with an interest in surgery.

Unfortunately, there are quite a few major problems as well. To start with, his very frequent evangelizing for his religion is going to be a huge turn-off for people of other religions or that are agnostic/atheist. In his descriptions, everybody comes across as one-dimensional, including those that influenced him the most, and he gives the reader very little sense of what his surroundings were like. His comments & actions don't make him sound like someone I'd want to know, either -- he avoids showing any emotion around patients/families, verbally bullied less-popular kids as a teenager, describes patients' post-op lives with a kind of detached pride in a job well done rather than like someone that cares, and comments on being kind to others in large part for his own benefit.

I didn't care for how he kept emphasizing he's a success in every single example because he made an effort, prayed, and is favored by his god. That implies people that struggle through life either aren't trying hard enough, would all get better if we prayed, or aren't as loved or worthy in "God's" eyes. Between this problem and the above-mentioned personality flaws, I admit that I started hoping things would go really wrong just to kick him off of his own darn pedestal -- and that isn't a fun feeling to have while reading any book.