Alive - by Gabriel Weston (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A profound and provocative journey through the human body from a surgeon and award-winning writer. What does it mean to live in a body? For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. She'd forged an unconventional path, first studying humanities and getting an entry-level job in publishing, before a spark of inspiration set her on the path to becoming a doctor. Medicine teaches us how a body functions, but it doesn't help us navigate the reality of living in one. As Weston became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, she found herself grappling with the gap between scientific knowledge and unfathomable complexity of human experience. In this captivating exploration of the body, Weston dissolves the boundaries that usually divide surgeon and patient, pushing beyond the limit of what science has to tell us about who we are and leaning on her roots in the humanities. Focusing on our individual organs, not just under the intense spotlight of the operating theatre, but in the central role they play in the stories of our lives, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges: more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could have imagined. Intimate, penetrating and original, Alive is about our bodies and bonds, the richness and brevity of existence, and the thread of mortality that connect us all"--

Book Synopsis

A profound and provocative journey through the human body from a surgeon and award-winning writer. "Weston's evocative descriptions will change how readers see the body....This captivates."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

What does it mean to live in a body? For Gabriel Weston, there was always something missing from the anatomy she was taught at medical school. She'd forged an unconventional path, first studying humanities and getting an entry-level job in publishing, before a spark of inspiration set her on the path to becoming a doctor.

Medicine teaches us how a body functions, but it doesn't help us navigate the reality of living in one. As Weston became a surgeon, a mother, and ultimately a patient herself, she found herself grappling with the gap between scientific knowledge and unfathomable complexity of human experience.

In this captivating exploration of the body, Weston dissolves the boundaries that usually divide surgeon and patient, pushing beyond the limit of what science has to tell us about who we are and leaning on her roots in the humanities. Focusing on our individual organs, not just under the intense spotlight of the operating theatre, but in the central role they play in the stories of our lives, a fuller and more human picture of our bodies emerges: more fragile, frightening and miraculous than we could have imagined.

Intimate, penetrating and original, Alive is about our bodies and bonds, the richness and brevity of existence, and the thread of mortality that connect us all.

Review Quotes

"In describing the anatomy of bones, brain, breasts, genitals, gut, heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, skin, and womb, Weston writes with a wit and intense curiosity reminiscent of popular science writer Mary Roach. But the book's splendor arises from its attention to the art of doctoring. Weston notes how good physicians require a kind of 'bifocal vision' that allows them to see the generalities of the human body but also the unique details of an individual patient. She extols empathy and elevates vulnerability: 'We are not separable from those we care for, just as our strength is not separable from our vulnerability.' Melding science and sentiment, mixing professional life with personal life, Weston enlivens anatomy and pays homage to the physician-patient relationship."

--Tony Miksanek, Journal of Medical Humanities

"You'll think about the way you move through the world differently after reading Alive, which is why it's one of my favorite books of the year."

--Lindsay Powers, Amazon Editor

"An exceptional, beautiful, and absolutely absorbing book. Gabriel Weston is one of the best writers around. It is essential reading if you own a body and should be mandatory for all those who study them."

--Chris Van Tulleken, author of Ultra-Processed People

"Alive is a delightfully uncategorizable tour de force; part meditation on anatomy and physiology, part history of medicine, part memoir. Gabriel Weston explores such varied subjects as the intricate workings of the human lung, liver transplantation, and her own heart ailment with precision and lyricism, honoring on every page what she calls 'the poetry of the body.' An informative, moving, and beautiful book."

--Suzanne Koven, author of Letter to a Young Female Physician

"An engrossing tour of the human body....This captivates."

--Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Makes us feel a simple wonder about the bodies we exist inside....a unique appreciation of living within our very own unique selves."

--Complusive Reader