From birth and adolescence through maturity and old age, our lives are punctuated by sudden medical emergencies and by chronic illnesses, and by encounters with doctors, nurses, and other care-givers. Physicians and patients, operations and cures, suffering and compassion--all are part of the reality of human existence. Now, in a beautifully illustrated volume, R.S. Downie offers a vibrant, kaleidoscopic look at the healing arts, bringing together eclectic and engaging excerpts from fiction, poetry, drama, and letters, and by writers as diverse as Paraclesus, Francis Bacon, and Joseph Heller....