*A New York Times Notable Book* From the author of the National Book Award-winning How We Die comes a blend of "fascinating stories...about human anatomy and the surgeon's complicated profession" (Chicago Tribune). Dr. Sherwin Nuland, "a gifted and deeply intelligent writer" (
San Francisco Chronicle), combines knowledge, compassion, and elegance of expression to shed light on the workings of our bodies from the perspective of a surgeon. Dr. Nuland recounts age-old legends about the functions and "personalities" of the body's organs and, in riveting vignettes of the surgery he has performed, he describes the connections between myth and reality.
A brilliant blend of science and folklore,
The Mysteries Within reveals the enigmas not only of the body but also of the human imagination.