Carrying the Heart: Exploring the Worlds Within Us »

F. Gonzalez-Crussi is currently Professor Emeritus of Pathology at Northwestern University Medical School.  He is the author, most recently, of On Seeing: Things Seen, Unseen, and Obscene. His other books include Notes of an Anatomist, The Five Senses (a Los Angeles Times Book Prize nominee), Suspended Animation (a New York Times Notable Book), The Day of the Dead, and On Being Born and Other Difficulties. He has been described by Oliver Sacks as reminding one of ""nothing so much as Sir Thomas Browne, oddly admixed with a medical Borges.""

Gonzalez-Crussi is a master stylist, an erudite and witty recontour, a magician with words, ""an author without peer in our time."" —Booklist

Carrying the Heart is one of those remarkable books that informs and enlightens and entertains on almost every page. In this book, Dr. Gonzalez-Crussi explores our inner organ systems:  The Digestive System, Respiratory System, Reproductive System, and the Cardiovascular System.  As with all of his books, this one roams widely and draws abundantly from episodes of the history of medicine, examples from literature, philosophic reflections, humor and biomedical concepts. It aims to amuse and instruct, to enhance our understanding of our internal anatomical organs and systems, and how our understanding of these systems have evolved over history. This is particulary relevant today, when organ transplants and surgical ""remodeling"" of the body threaten to reduce human nature to a mere mechanism.

The book, and its approach, is completely unique, as is Dr. Gonzalez-Crussi's inimitable style.

Tina Neville - Library Journal

Widely popular pathologist Gonzalez-Crussi (The Five Senses; Day of the Dead: And Other Mortal Reflections) returns with another collection of essays on medical history and anatomy. In his latest volume, he contemplates the digestive, excretory, respiratory, reproductive, and cardiovascular systems. Gonzalez-Crussi has a knack for locating intriguing tales from the past that illustrate how anatomical processes were viewed prior to this century and how those historical values and perspectives may influence our views today. Covering, e.g., the history of the enema and the latest location of Napoléon's private parts, his captivating and quirky outlook on human anatomy and physiology will entertain a wide variety of readers. While many of the vignettes border on the outlandish, others can be quite touching and thought-provoking, such as his consideration of the "cognition of the heart." A book that can be read, reread, discussed, and dissected, this compendium is highly recommended for academic and public libraries.

Digestive 1

Scatology 45

Respiratory 93

Reproductive 149

Cardiovascular 239

Notes 273