Extreme Doctoring

 

"Medicine Men: Extreme Appalachian Doctoring" is a series of recollections from doctors whose lives were spent practicing medicine in the rural areas of the Smokey Mountains of Tennessee. Each story is short and to the point and gives a glimpse into the lives of both the doctors and their patients, who, for the most part, were too poor to pay for services rendered. The recollections run the gamut from the ridiculous to the sublime, but are told with heart and a good sense of humour.

There is a fascination in modern day America, that there can even be those that still live in isolation and poverty. The stories are from the 1940's to present day and it seems that some things never change. There are shotgun blasts to the head treated with great humour, delivering babies whilst fighting off pet groundhogs, moonshine used as medicine for children, amputated legs on dashboards, war heroes hiding out in the bush, miraculous healing, broken bones, ice picks in the head, and I could go on and on about the 'stranger than fiction' scenarios. The book was too short.

 

3 stars