Heart: An American Medical Odyssey

The book's title is quite apt, it has plenty of it. Dick Cheney is an extremely controversial conservative icon One of the most public figures in American history. As a life long Democrat, my political ideology is as polar opposite as possible, as that of the former Vice President but this gripping story is not about a politician, it is about a miraculous journey. Serious illness is the perfect equalizer, and as we used to say in the Army, everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. Heart is written in two perspectives. We are witness to the epic struggles of a critically ill patient, who despite the odds, overcomes chronic heart disease. We learn of the healing effects from the support and love of a remarkable family. The co author, Dr. Jonathan Reiner M.D. informs us with a timeline, detailing the technological advances in the treatment and care of the human heart. He also removes the surgical mask, and reveals the person behind it. With each crisis Mr. Cheney faces, a new technique is perfected or an implement is invented to rescue him from death. It read's almost like fiction but it is as serious as (dare I say it) a heart attack. Of which Mr. Cheney has had four, as well as by- pass surgery, a defribrillator implanted in his heart. In his darkest hour, he was kept alive by a transplant. The story is not without humor. Dr. Reiner expresses embarrassment when uttering an expletive deleted in the OR in the presence of his famous patient. Ironic, when remembering Cheney's infamous salutation to a colleague to, GFY(it doesn't mean Good For You.) There is a particularly engrossing passage described with pathos by Dr. Reiner. The doctor is observing a man on a respirator providing him his last breaths. Jon Reiner reflects on the generosity of the heart donor and his surviving family. I still get goose bumps thinking about that moving scene. If you are a reader of both medical science and human interest "Heart" covers both. I particularly appreciated the way the book is laid out. In every situation and event, we hear from Cheney then Reiner, or vice versa. In the spirit of full disclosure: I have had the pleasure of Dr. Reiner as a customer, and the good fortune to be one of his patients. I can attest, first hand, to the knowledge, humility, and sense of humor of the doctor, as is revealed in this fine book. Dr Jonathan Reiner M.D. is at the top of his profession but is somehow able not to take himself too seriously, It Ia a rare and desirable quality.ps. Those who used this forum to make personal attacks against Cheney did a major disservice to potential buyers of the book. Shame on Amazon for not flagging their vulgar and childish remarksAmazon, You are doing a terrible job with your book reviewdept. The comment posted below is not even directed at myreview. I wish you would restrict your review participant tobuyers of the given book, eliminating the rhetoric writing nutjobs who ramble on about their political views, taking spaceaway from serious readers. i.e. "It's about the book, stupid"joe rooms joseph Rooms says:to whom are you directing this comment to ?Not only did I buy and read "Heart" I gave it a five star rating, I even had it inscribedby DR. Reiner, Mr.Chaney's co- author

After reading a sample (the first several pages of the book), I decided to buy the rest right away. The sample pages are a good indicator of the tone and style of the rest of the book.This is first and foremost a book on the HEART, on cardiology. It is written not just by Cheney, but in parallel with his doctors as well. For this reason, this book is exceptional in its format. Cheney is the patient, and after several heart attacks over the decades, he is extremely familiar with the science of the heart. He describes things as a patient. But he is a politician, not a doctor, so he leaves the more technical and specific descriptions of heart medicine to his co-authors. The book goes back and forth between the POV/writings of the heart doctors and Cheney.The book is a chronology of Cheney's several heart attacks. He describes what was going on (political context) as he had and recovered from his several cardiac issues. This made the book interesting.... all events most of us will remember. He does not take the opportunity to apologize, justify, or even give any zingers to those with differing political views; it is just a matter of fact recount of what happened when. No political yakking; just context.Most interesting is the science and progress of the heart, cardiac science, health, etc. The experts in the book recount DaVinci's writings on the heart after an autopsy in the 1500s, of the origin of K-Rations, how FDR had heart issues as well, and about Eisenhower's heart attack while in office. Also, the first heart transplants, valves... all the technology. This is described by the medical authors, not Cheney. Fascinating stuff.I recommend this book for several reasons: 1) It tells you more about the science of cardiac issues than you ever knew existed, without being too techncial or boring; 2) It recounts history from the seventies forward in little snippets... interesting look into what was going on as a powerful man in our government spent time in the hospital 3) Most important -- it made me much more aware of the most vital of the organs - the heart. I found myself reading the last few chapters on my elliptical machine with my heart rate monitor.... its an amazing organ.Strongly recommended for the value in becoming aware of the heart, with the interesting parallel of history as a backdrop.

When one is living in the midst of a revolution, it is often difficult to appreciate the significance of the events occurring. That is as true in medicine as in other areas, especially because many medical advances were initially frowned upon or even opposed by the established experts. The treatment of cardiovascular disease has gone through a revolution the past few decades that was hardly imaginable in the 1950's and early 1960's. Heart, by Dick Cheney and Dr. Jon Reiner, does a magnificent job of chronicling the advances the last few decades, told both from the patient's and doctor's perspectives. By bringing these two perspectives together, Heart tells a fascinating journey both for one individual and for all of those with heart diseases. It is sometimes trite to say it, but this book is hard to put down. Some people find the book objectionable because the policies espoused by Cheney before, during, and after his term as Vice President are anathema to them. While I share their strong feelings about most of the policies, especially the major ones, that Cheney supported, allowing those political biases to color their opinion of Heart is unfortunate. This book is not just about Dick Cheney. It is about Bill Clinton. It is about my golfing buddy Bob. It is about all those, famous or not, who suffer from chronic cardiac disease and whose prognosis is much brighter today than in periods past because of incredible medical advances. It is about all those cardiology giants, most of them not well known, upon whose shoulders Dr. Reiner and all of his sister and fellow cardiologists stand. Their willingness to develop and implement new ways to diagnose and treat heart disease, often in the face of strong opposition, has made the world much brighter. Read this book.

Nice product with very timely delivery

Boring!!