Bellevue

““Any exciting book about the history of Bellevue—which this one surely is—is destined to be as much about the history of disease, medicine and New York City as about the hospital itself. Mr. Oshinsky’s chapters about the early days of medicine are especially, distractingly interesting—so much so that they’ll inspire you to read them aloud to anyone who’ll listen . . . Mr. Oshinsky, who won the 2006 Pulitzer Prize for history for Polio: An American Story, has a lovely flair for detail.” —Jennifer Senior, The New York Times “Brilliant and deliciously readable . . . The story of Bellevue, Oshinsky convincingly demonstrates, is the story of modern medicine, of New York City, and of America itself.” —Boston Globe “Deeply engrossing . . . Oshinsky has wrestled an institutional history of significant complexity into a compelling tale . . . [He] is a master of finding and relating memorable anecdotes to embody the history. The result is a serious story studded with juicy and occasionally blood-curdling bits from the past.” —Chicago Tribune “No other hospital is as embedded in our culture as Bellevue. David Oshinsky’s biography of this grand dame of America’s public hospitals is a page-turner . . . Oshinsky has captured the spirit, the resilience that is Bellevue, a quality that rubs off on the legions who have trained there. A wonderful read!” —Abraham Verghese, author of Cutting for Stone “Compelling . . . In this rich history, we bear witness to a remarkable transformation as Bellevue evolves from bare-bones almshouse appendage in the 1700s to world-class academic medical center today . . . Oshinsky simply has a wealth of great material, and it’s a joy to traverse it with him.” —USA Today “You’ll walk away in awe of this tenacious institution—and marvel at the way Oshinsky also fits a comprehensive but succinct history of modern medicine itself into the same book.” —Entertainment Weekly”