Angina Monologues: Surgery for Broken Hearts

A pioneering cardiac surgeon expertly sews up the heart of surgery.

The Angina Monologues speeds from the transporting of a donor's heart up the highway's shoulder, to cautionary stories of excessive intervention gone awry in US hospitals, to a traumatic trip to bring advanced cardiac surgery to the Palestinian West Bank. Nashef tells heartstopping stories of transplants, coronary artery bypasses, aorta repair, and cardiac arrest. He also delivers humane advice about medical realities rarely observed: the futility of obsessing over diet, the necessity of calculating risks, the role of decision making, and the resilience of doctor and patient alike.

Nashef is a magnificently warm and likeable doctor and writer; and he has the best imaginable bedside manner.