Product Description
A report on a day in the life of trailblazing surgeon Dr. Hardy Hendren provides an unprecedented tour through the halls of Children's Hospital in Boston--the nation's premier pediatric medical center. 20,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Brilliant person and doctor
This book has a real sentimental value to me because Dr. Hardy Hendren is my doctor.I had a kidney condition when I was born and the hospital I was at did not know was what wrong with me but when my parents brought me to the Boston Children's Hospital where Dr. Henden works at, he knew what to do and preformed my surgery.The book is brilliant because of the man it is about.

Inspiring story of a giant of medicine
It's not easy to find words adequate to do this book justice. It's primarily the biography of Dr. Hardy Hendren, recently retired chief of surgery at Children's Hospital in Boston. Dr. Hendren has performed operations that seem to be nothing short of miraculous. The book is a tribute to his indomitable spirit, and an inspiration to anyone looking for examples of what a man can accomplish when he puts his mind to it. I don't throw words such as "towering" or "genius" around lightly, but even those words seem inadequate when applied to Dr. Hendren. Read the book, and be inspired.

I agree with an earlier reviewer that the book seems to get side-tracked occasionally with descriptions of other surgeons at Children's Hospital. However, I found this a microscopic negative compared to the overall value of the book. Hence the five stars.

Good... but
the author tries to do too much in this one book.On the one hand it is about a plastic surgeon who specializes in pediatric congenital anomalies.The biographical informationwith details about some of his cases is excellent.However, the author takes on too much by making it a book about Children's Hospital also, including cases that have nothing to do with the featured surgeon.I enjoyed it but it could have been better organized into two books.

A complete Inspiration
"The Work of Human Hands" is an excellent story detailing the work of Doctor Hardy Hendron - a fantastic human being - This story is impossible to read without gaining a heightened sense of what is truly important. I am also a writer and I have suffered a dire family emergency that has a happy ending - I am detailing the work of the terrific surgeons at The Children's Hospital of Buffalo, New York and I can only hope to do as terrific a job as G. Wayne Miller did.

captivating !
I highly recommend this book which tells the story of Dr Hendern,American child surgery and Boston Children Hospital. It is very well written and beautifully describes one of the hardest working men in the US.Mr Miller deserves a medal for a job well done . ... Read more

Product Description
What is it that makes a man strap himself into an automobile and drive it hundreds of laps around a track at speeds surpassing 200 miles per hour? Is it the desire for victory, the proximity to danger? Or is it the lure of speed itself -- propelling oneself ever faster, without losing control of the vehicle?

Critically acclaimed journalist G. Wayne Miller decided to find out by spending a year on the NASCAR circuit with Roush Racing's legendary owner Jack Roush and his four title-contending Winston Cup drivers: Mark Martin, Jeff Burton, Matt Kenseth, and Kurt Busch.

Miller plumbs the allure of speed and the exploding popularity of stockcar racing through the dramatic and compelling story of the 2001 season. The year began with the most famous Daytona 500 in history, when NASCAR legend Dale Earnhardt was killed slamming into the wall on the first turn, and runs through the great races at Las Vegas, Talledega, Indianapolis, Charlotte, and Atlanta. Miller takes us inside the garages, pits, staging areas, and behind the wheel itself to convey what it feels like to compete at 200 miles per hour. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

I tell you what...
This is an awesome book.Somehow, Miller manages to write a compelling review of a year in racing which is enjoyable by both NASCAR novices as well as diehard fans who don't make non-race related appointments on Sunday.I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about NASCAR from the inside.The anecdotes are exciting and amusing.The overall view of the Rousch racing endeavor is fascinating.I couldn't put the book down.Great job Mr. Miller!

An informative survey of NASCAR racing history
Men And Speed is an informative survey of NASCAR racing history and is written by a journalist who had exclusive access to Roush Racing, a large motorsports operation. Miller spent a year on the NASCAR racing circuit with owner Roush and his drivers: the result is an epic of racing events.

A SPIN CHILLING -INSIDER SCOPE OF THE ROUSH GUYS!
This book is a must have for any and all Roush Racing/NASCAR Fans. Every page I read sent chills up my spine and tears down my eyes. G. Wayne Miller gets up-close and personal with the Roush Guys and tells all the stuff we want to hear and all the stuff some of us would never come close to knowing. He is a super writer and a great person as he keeps the Roush fans up-to-date with his continuing adventure with the Roush guys. I hope he would consider a Pt. 2 because I know it would be just as great! Thanks for this wonderful insight!

Overview of a WC season
Interesting look into the workings of a NASCAR Winston Cup team.

An Excellent Read...
I am a new Nascar fan and looked to this book as a way to get behind the scenes of one of the sport's best teams. It was great! A highly entertaining read, the reader gets "backstage" passes into the life and times of the Jack Roush racing team. You get an inside look at what it takes to be a driver, the highs and lows, and also learn that being a driver is not all roses. This is a particularly tough year for the Roush team and the reader can feel the unfulfilled expectations and frustrations. In fact, not one of these talented drivers had the kind of year that was anticipated.
A superb book for both Nascar fans and people who enjoy going behind the scenes and learning about how an industry works. ... Read more

Product Description
A novel of terror. A modern-day journey into a darkened world where the souls of children are the stakes.—Library Journal.

Well-paced and effective.—Publishers Weekly.

Wonderfully written.—The Horror Show. ... Read more

Product Description
The lives and experiences of two teenagers from a small New England town reflect the universal attitudes, secrets, ordeals, and experiences of young people throughout an America that is very different from that of their parents. 15,000 first printing. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

This book gives you insight to American high schools.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book.I live in the same town as the high school profiled and I enjoyed reading about teachers and students I am familiar with.This book gives an indepth look into American schools.I recommend it to everyone.A must read!! ... Read more

Product Description
An unprecedented inside-the-lab look at a promising but controversial frontier of medical research raises provocative questions about medical ethics, animal experimentation, and the relationship between science and business

Dr. David H. Sachs of the Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital is not a household name, but within medical science, he is a giant. An immunologist and surgeon, Sachs has made significant contributions in the field of organ transplantation - contributions which, some believe, might someday bring him the Nobel Prize. But Sachs's real passion-and the possibility for a revolution in medicine-lays in his work in xenotransplantation: using animal parts to treat sick people. Untold thousands of people die every year waiting for the traditional transplant, in which human organs are used - and xenotransplantation might save them.It could also lead to a multi-billion-dollar business.The government and outside companies have invested millions of dollars in Sachs's work in the hopes of staking a lucrative claim in thefuture of medicine.

As The Xeno Chronicles begins, Sachs's decades of work and hopes have all converged on a genetically engineered, cloned pig named Goldie, whose organs have been designed not to be rejected by their recipients.And so experiments begin, with organs from Goldie and similar pigs being transplanted into baboons, a rarefied research that only a handful of scientists are engaged in.Just as Sachs begins to get unprecedented results, he loses his biggest financial support and the collaboration of an important outside lab. He is almost 62.Time and money are starting to run out....

G. Wayne Miller's absorbing, dramatic narrative account of a brilliant scientist's attempts to achieve a breakthrough offers an illuminating look into the minds, hearts, labs, and practical realities of those on the very forefront of medical science.Based on exclusive and unprecedented inside-the-lab access, The Xeno Chronicles clarifies both how science works and the ethical issues it raises through an absorbing human story and intimate portrait of Sachs, his colleagues, and patients.Amazon.com Review
For the 87,000 people on the waiting list for transplants in the United States alone, stem cell research leading to cloned human organs is a distant hope. Far more likely in the short run, at least according to its most passionate advocates, is xenotransplantation, or transplantation across species. Putting animal organs into humans may seem distasteful or even unethical, but in The Xeno Chronicles, G. Wayne Miller shows readers why it might be worth pursuing. The book follows the scientific trials and tribulations of Dr. David H. Sachs of the Harvard Medical School in his quest to successfully transplant into baboons the organs of a "double-knockout" pig--cloned and genetically engineered so that its DNA lacks two copies of the gene that causes its cells to be rejected by other species. Over the course of the book, Miller follows the fate of pig #15502, known as Goldie. Considering her ultimate fate, it's odd that Miller goes out of his way to relate how cute and cuddly the pig is. "Goldie passed a restful night and was happy and playful at breakfast that morning," he writes, then proceeds to describe her quiet, surgical end.

Animal rights activists likely won't appreciate how kind and gentle the animal researchers are to their subjects, and Miller gives them their say in the book. A PETA member points out that if people didn't eat so much bacon, they wouldn't need pig hearts to keep themselves alive. Still, Miller points out that the majority of patients waiting for organs did nothing to bring on their disease, and they have little choice right now but to wait--and wait--and sometimes die waiting for human donor organs. In this light, it's hard not to root for Sachs's passion for getting xenotransplantation right in a constant race against time and the medical research bureaucracy. --Therese Littleton ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Sounds like a good idea BUT
It seems like the more progress we make, the more we realize just how much we don't know.

Transplanting animal organs into people sure sounds like a good idea, doesn't it?It's been tried for decades with invariably disastrous results; the "Baby Fae" debacle, mentioned in this book, is by far the best known.

I'm deducting a star for the way the book seems to drop off a cliff, with a hint of propaganda.

OTOH, like other G. Wayne Miller books, it remains a good story with interesting and colorful characters.

An excellent job of keeping a fast pace and a scientific eye on Dr. Sachs' promise and progress
G. Wayne Miller's The Xeno Chronicles: Two Years On The Frontier Of Medicine Inside Harvard's Transplant Research Lab focuses on Dr. David Sachs, a pioneer in immunology who has made many contributions in the field of organ transplants. His real passion lies in xenotransplantion: using animal parts to treat and replace human parts, and The Xeno Chronicles here examines his decades of work and the genetically engineered, cloned pig Goldie designed for organs which are not rejected by recipients. From limits of research money and time to moral and ethical concerns, The Xeno Chronicles does an excellent job of keeping a fast pace and a scientific eye on Dr. Sachs' promise and progress.

Scilitera.com Review...
G. Wayne Miller is a journalist with a keen interest in the personal and professional lives of medical pioneers, who are little known outside their field. His past books include King of Hearts and The Work of Human Hands, both of which recount the day to day experiences of pioneers in the field of surgery.

In The Xeno Chronicles, Miller documents the behind-the-scenes activities of Dr. David H. Sachs, a legend in transplantation research. Dr. Sachs is determined to advance the field of cross-species transplants, known as xeno-transplantation. Miller gained exclusive access to Harvard's transplant research laboratory where Dr. Sachs and his colleagues attempt to harvest genetically modified pig organs and transplant them into baboons as a first step into animal-to-human transplants. With an ever increasing number of people needing organ and tissue transplants, and the immature promise of stem cell research, xeno-transplantation could be a saving grace for millions around the world. But Sachs's work, and the work of his counterparts, is being slowed down by politics, animal activism, and above all, financial constraints.

Miller does a wonderful job in not only focusing on the scientific work of Dr. Sachs, but also by touching-up on stories of animal activism and financial hardships experienced by animal research scientists. Patients who are desperately waiting for an organ believe that animals are the last chance they have at life, but activists think animals deserve the full respect bestowed on us humans and should not be used as spare body parts. This is why animal research scientists have become similar to undercover agents, proceeding through a plethora of security checks and biometric checkpoints to reach their labs. The corporate firms backing the research impose further restrictions on open scientific discussions, and many believe such restrictions slow down the progress of xeno-transplantation, if not all of medical research.

The Xeno Chronicles reads much like the latest best-seller novel, with complex characters, heroes applauded by some and criticized by others, and a sophisticated plot of secret research and political mongering. But this story is not fictional; it is in fact the real life drama of scientists on the fringe of medical greatness.

Scilitera.com
... Read more

Product Description
Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life.

This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine.

Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.


From the Hardcover edition. ... Read more

Product Description
Few of the great stories of medicine are as palpably dramatic as the invention of open-heart surgery, yet, until now, no journalist has ever brought all of the thrilling specifics of this triumph to life.

This is the story of the surgeon many call the father of open-heart surgery, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei, who, along with colleagues at University Hospital in Minneapolis and a small band of pioneers elsewhere, accomplished what many experts considered to be an impossible feat: He opened the heart, repaired fatal defects, and made the miraculous routine.

Acclaimed author G. Wayne Miller draws on archival research and exclusive interviews with Lillehei and legendary pioneers such as Michael DeBakey and Christiaan Barnard, taking readers into the lives of these doctors and their patients as they progress toward their landmark achievement. In the tradition of works by Richard Rhodes and Tracy Kidder, King of Hearts tells the story of an important and gripping piece of forgotten science history.


From the Hardcover edition.Amazon.com Review
The surgeon-as-rock-star mystique seems like it must have come straight outof Hollywood, but the myth had to begin more concretely.A good candidateis Minnesota's Dr. Walt Lillehei, the hard-working, hard-playing father ofopen-heart surgery, whose life is told in garish color in King ofHearts by journalist G. Wayne Miller.From his early brilliance,recovery from deadly lymphatic cancer, and dramatic repair of seeminglyhopeless heart cases to the disintegration of his career at its peak thanksto an army of personal enemies and conviction on tax evasion counts, hisstory is consistently surprising and engaging. Fast cars, hard drinking,and plenty of women filled his time when he wasn't turning lives aroundwith a few strokes of his scalpel, and the reader will find the surgeon'sactions almost unbelievable--rarely endearing, but occasionally saintly. Combining this melodramatic biography with the fascinating story of thestruggle for open-heart surgery, considered impossible little more than ageneration ago, Miller makes a compelling case that the daring scientistwas simply another side of the arrogant, absent-minded playboy.Noordinary biography, King of Hearts is breathless reading--you'llfind yourself surfacing every few chapters to remind yourself itsnonfiction. --Rob Lightner ... Read more

Customer Reviews (36)

Child with CHD......a must read
I am a mother of a 15 mo old Hypoplastic Left Heart Son.After spending 3 months in the hospital in Children's Hosptial in Wisconsin ( a leading hosptial for HLHS surgery).I am thankful to have read this book.As a parent of a CHD child we know to live life to the fullest and that each day is a blessing.I was amazed at how so many doctor's continued to battle through their own failures, frusterations, red-tape to accomphlish such goals in Cardiac Medicine.It is wonderful to see how far we have come in just 20 years and after reading this book it gives me hope for my son who someday will need a new heart.I can only imagine what surgeons like all of the great surgeons mentioned in the book will know by then.I think my only recommendation would be perhaps to families who are thinking of reading this pre-diagnosis, or shortly after a diagnosis it might be better to wait (just my personal opinion).You go through what I call the roller coaster of emotions when your living the day-in, day-out life of the ICU and I feel I wouldn't have been ready for it until I knew our son was out of the hospital and at home.I read 1 year post leaving the hospital and truely enjoyed it, it didn't upset me, and I appreciated it so much more AFTER going through everything with our son.Especially reading about the discovery of the by-pass machine.It made me appreciate modern technology even more.

Fantastic Lillehei is the man!
Great read. Wonderful illustration of what it took to be the true pioneer of open heart surgery. Well written. Walt had some steely nerves.

A must-read for anyone in the field of cardiac medicine
I am a basic scientist researching heart attacks, and while I was aware of Earl Bakken (with whom Lillehei invented the implantable pacemaker), I had never heard the story of Lillehei. Though I have a modest background in medicine, I am not a doctor, and I was nonetheless easily able to follow this riveting book. All of the essentials of the story are included (though sometimes I would have liked to see more in-depth information on the devices invented), and the pace of the book is consistent and rapid. I picked the book up to start it yesterday and finished it today -- indeed, I had a hard time putting it down.

My only complaint about this book is that the printing seems pretty shoddy. Many of the pages had smudged (though readable) text.

King of Hearts
As a former heart surgeon this book was delightful to read for the clear explanation of much of recent medical history and some of the sad personal details of Dr. Lillehei's personal history. A great story about a great human being despite his very human frailties.

Amazing Story!
I am a patient that has had heart problems for awhile now.I just had surgery in 2006, so reading this book really helped me to understand where heart surgery all started. It brought it all home for me at the end.There is something about this surgeon that I now have a close connection to, and I didn't even realize it until the end!Those of you who have read "King of Hearts" would understand! This book has taught me a lot, but it also has a lot of great stories intertwined within. Totally worth the read!! ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document, covering the life and work of G(eorge) Wayne Miller, is an entry from Contemporary Authors, a reference volume published by Thompson Gale. The length of the entry is 1510 words. The page length listed above is based on a typical 300-word page. Although the exact content of each entry from this volume can vary, typical entries include the following information:

• Place and date of birth and death (if deceased)
• Family members
• Education
• Professional associations and honors
• Employment
• Writings, including books and periodicals
• A description of the author's work
• References to further readings about the author