Time for a Heart-to-Heart
Reflections on Life in the Face of Death
Bob Mitchell, Larry King
- 224 Pages
- September 5, 2017
- ISBN: 9781510724402
- Imprint: Skyhorse Publishing
- Trim Size: 5.5in x 8.25in x 0in
Description
About a year ago, Bob Mitchell became very sick. He would endure three near-fatal episodes of ventricular tachycardia due to a heart muscle comprised of 54% scar tissue, as well as heart surgeries, two harrowing months of waiting on the transplant list for a new heart on life supporting IV drips (during which time a malignant tumor was detected in his kidney), partial nephrectomy surgery to remove the cancer, another month of waiting, 12-hour heart and kidney transplant surgery, and 100 days on life support in four different hospitals. A novelist at heart, Bob’s ordeal seemed like a memoir screaming to be written.
Not simply a narrative of the physical and emotional experience of what it’s like to go through and recover from a transplant, it is at its core both a thought-provoking, introspective monologue, and an intimate dialogue with the reader, concerning life’s fundamental conflicts that the author pondered during his ordeal. These experiences and tribulations gave clarity and perspective to the things Bob had been thinking, teaching, and writing for over five decades: fear and hope, despair and joy, failure and success, pride and humility, thought and feeling, control and surrender, arbitrariness and justice, constriction and freedom, youth and age, life and death.
Authors
Reviews
“There are lots of memoirs out there about heart disease, but Time for a Heart-to-Heart is unique . . . thought-provoking and challenging, with lots of insight and wisdom, inviting any reader with a beating heart to contemplate nothing less than the meaning of life. Plus, it’s a fun read filled with entertaining anecdotes from Bob’s colorful past. As we used to say in Brooklyn, ‘What’s not to like?’ This is a must-read.” —Larry King, founder of the Larry King Cardiac Foundation (from the foreword)
“Bob Mitchell has great insights into medicine, and much more brilliant insights into life. His memoir is wonderfully funny, uplifting, and a true celebration of what we all should be thankful for, the passionate fight for survival. Do-overs are indeed an engineering feature of our bodies. As a weekly radio/podcast show host, I get to read fifty-two books a year—some 830 since I started. Bob Mitchell’s Time for a Heart-to-Heart is clearly at the top, among many great ones.” —Mike Roizen, PhD, chief wellness officer at the Cleveland Clinic and New York Times bestselling author
“I’m always impressed by the bravery of patients, especially when risks are high—how do they find their courage, patience, and optimism? Bob Mitchell brings that conjuring to life from a rare perspective, grounded in several thousand years of literature, philosophy . . . and sports! Mitchell’s sweeping chronicle of life and heart transplantation is Odyssean, Dantean, Talmudic, and reminiscent of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance. It is a Truth Well Told.” —Craig R. Smith, PhD, chairman of the Department of Surgery, College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University; surgeon-in-chief at Columbia University Medical Center of New York Presbyterian Hospital
“Few individuals have traveled on the remarkable journey detailed in this memoir; fewer still have the capacity to make it come alive in the context of art, literature, and Everyman’s experience. Bob Mitchell draws upon an unparalleled depth of knowledge and erudition to craft a must-read work for patients, providers, and all those whose lives are personally touched by the intersection of heart disease and high technology.” —Dr. Stuart F. Seides, physician executive director of MedStar Heart & Vascular Institute, Washington, D.C.
“I believe that Bob’s story will provide hope to other patients with severe medical diseases, promote faith in modern medicine, and, above all, underscore the importance of support from family and friends to healing and recovery. This book is about real life and a great and hard-fought outcome, as told by a true novelist.” —Jon A. Kobashigawa, PhD, director of the Heart Transplant Program, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, LA (from the afterword)
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