Under the Fig Leaf

From The Critics

Reviewer: David J. Grossklaus, MD(Vanderbilt University School of Medicine)
Description: This text is a survey of urologic topics. Each chapter attempts to explain urologic procedures, define common urologic problems, and inform readers about each topic. The last section includes chapters on urologic malignancies.
Purpose: This is an informational text for urologic problems and procedures.
Audience: The intended audience is patients and lay public.
Features: The author attempts to arrange topics in order of occurrence in a man's life. The scope of this informational guide is extraordinarily broad and the depth of information, even when examined through his target audience, is variable. The chapters dealing with urologic procedures are well written and common questions are adequately addressed. Chapters dealing with health related topics are somewhat less informative, The last section dealing with urologic malignancies in too broad and the topic too complex to be adequately covered in this type of text. The author acknowledges the difficulty in combining medical and lay terms, but his use of unprofessional comments and slang terms detracts from the credibility of the text rather than helps him identify more closely with the reader. There is a chapter on Viagra, and multiple comments on the back cover that seem more of a way to capitalize on the commercial success of the drug than an attempt to inform patients.
Assessment: The idea behind the writing of this book is noble. Some chapters fulfill the author's purpose. Overall, the scope of this text is too broad to succeed in its attempt to inform patients of common urologic procedures and problems. The chapters about urologic surgical procedures can be recommended; unfortunately, overall the inadequacies of this book would require qualification of any recommendation.

David J. Grossklaus

This text is a survey of urologic topics. Each chapter attempts to explain urologic procedures, define common urologic problems, and inform readers about each topic. The last section includes chapters on urologic malignancies. This is an informational text for urologic problems and procedures. The intended audience is patients and lay public. The author attempts to arrange topics in order of occurrence in a man's life. The scope of this informational guide is extraordinarily broad and the depth of information, even when examined through his target audience, is variable. The chapters dealing with urologic procedures are well written and common questions are adequately addressed. Chapters dealing with health related topics are somewhat less informative, The last section dealing with urologic malignancies in too broad and the topic too complex to be adequately covered in this type of text. The author acknowledges the difficulty in combining medical and lay terms, but his use of unprofessional comments and slang terms detracts from the credibility of the text rather than helps him identify more closely with the reader. There is a chapter on Viagra, and multiple comments on the back cover that seem more of a way to capitalize on the commercial success of the drug than an attempt to inform patients. The idea behind the writing of this book is noble. Some chapters fulfill the author's purpose. Overall, the scope of this text is too broad to succeed in its attempt to inform patients of common urologic procedures and problems. The chapters about urologic surgical procedures can be recommended; unfortunately, overall the inadequacies of this book would require qualification of anyrecommendation.

2 Stars from Doody