Call number
BIO HAR
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Publication
Riverhead Books (2020), Edition: 1, 304 pages
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Medical. New Age. Nonfiction. HTML:A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A New York Times Notable Book â??Riveting, heartbreaking, sometimes difficult, always inspiring.â?ť â??The New York Times Book Reviewâ??An incredibly moving memoir about what it means to be a doctor.â?ť â??Ellen Pompeo As seen/heard on Fresh Air, The Daily Show with Trevor Noah, NBC Nightly News, MSNBC, Weekend Edition, and more An emergency room physician explores how a life of service to others taught her how to heal herself. Michele Harper is a female, African American emergency room physician in a profession that is overwhelmingly male and white. Brought up in Washington, D.C., in a complicated family, she went to Harvard, where she met her husband. They stayed together through medical school until two months before she was scheduled to join the staff of a hospital in central Philadelphia, when he told her he couldnâ??t move with her. Her marriage at an end, Harper began her new life in a new city, in a new job, as a newly single woman. In the ensuing years, as Harper learned to become an effective ER physician, bringing insight and empathy to every patient encounter, she came to understand that each of us is brokenâ??physically, emotionally, psychically. How we recognize those breaks, how we try to mend them, and where we go from there are all crucial parts of the healing process. The Beauty in Breaking is the poignant true story of Harperâ??s journey toward self-healing. Each of the patients Harper writes about taught her something important about recuperation and recovery. How to let go of fear even when the future is murky: How to tell the truth when itâ??s simpler to overlook it. How to understand that compassion isnâ??t the same as justice. As she shines a light on the systemic disenfranchisement of the patients she treats as they struggle to maintain their health and dignity, Harper comes to understand the importance of allowing ourselves to make peace with the past as we draw support from the present. In this hopeful, moving, and beautiful book, she passes along the precious, necessary lessons that she has learned as a da… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member bragan
Michele Harper is an emergency room doctor, and in this memoir she talks about her own life (including her abusive childhood and the problems of sexism and racism that she has faced), about treating her patients, about her views on medicine and spirituality, and about all the ways she's seen the US
I'm finding this a hard one to review, because, man, I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Or, really, to like it at all. Dr. Harper is someone who's endured a lot, who's accomplished a lot, and who is clearly a very caring and committed doctor, and one who isn't afraid to admit to her mistakes, all of which I respect. (Although, I have to say, I find it rather dismaying that she comes down as an advocate for the pseudoscience of "complementary medicine," which she thoroughly conflates with uncontroversial healthy lifestyle choices.) And I do applaud her for the way she so forthrightly says some things that I think very much need to be said and listened to when it comes to the ways in which the institutions that are supposed to help keep us all healthy, safe, and supported fail to do so in depressing and discriminatory ways.
Actually, the chapters where she explicitly does that calling-out of biased and inadequate systems are the best in the book, and I did find them worth reading. But for so much of the rest of it, I found her writing hard to get along with, as it's often stilted and sometimes vaguely purple, and features a lot of her giving compassionate but terribly didactic-for-the-reader lectures to patients. I'm sure a lot of my issues with it have to do with the fact that books that deliberately set out to be inspirational often backfire badly for me, and ones that go on about emotional and/or physical healing as a spiritual process tend to lose me very quickly. But I could tell that this book was just not really going to be for me early on when, in the course of talking about an incredibly sad incident in which Harper and her colleagues tried everything they could to resuscitate a tiny baby who was already beyond saving and then had to inform the family of what happened, she started going on about the spirits of sweet departed cherubs whispering their last words into their parents' ears and giving them butterfly kisses, and... I'm sorry. I can't. I just can't. I know Dr. Harper's heart is absolutely in the right place, and I can't even imagine what it's like to have experiences like that as part of your normal work day, but I read lines like that and I can't help seeing it as human tragedy turned into a sappy Hallmark card, and my brain just kind of shuts down.
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medical system and other institutions fail people, especially people of color.I'm finding this a hard one to review, because, man, I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. Or, really, to like it at all. Dr. Harper is someone who's endured a lot, who's accomplished a lot, and who is clearly a very caring and committed doctor, and one who isn't afraid to admit to her mistakes, all of which I respect. (Although, I have to say, I find it rather dismaying that she comes down as an advocate for the pseudoscience of "complementary medicine," which she thoroughly conflates with uncontroversial healthy lifestyle choices.) And I do applaud her for the way she so forthrightly says some things that I think very much need to be said and listened to when it comes to the ways in which the institutions that are supposed to help keep us all healthy, safe, and supported fail to do so in depressing and discriminatory ways.
Actually, the chapters where she explicitly does that calling-out of biased and inadequate systems are the best in the book, and I did find them worth reading. But for so much of the rest of it, I found her writing hard to get along with, as it's often stilted and sometimes vaguely purple, and features a lot of her giving compassionate but terribly didactic-for-the-reader lectures to patients. I'm sure a lot of my issues with it have to do with the fact that books that deliberately set out to be inspirational often backfire badly for me, and ones that go on about emotional and/or physical healing as a spiritual process tend to lose me very quickly. But I could tell that this book was just not really going to be for me early on when, in the course of talking about an incredibly sad incident in which Harper and her colleagues tried everything they could to resuscitate a tiny baby who was already beyond saving and then had to inform the family of what happened, she started going on about the spirits of sweet departed cherubs whispering their last words into their parents' ears and giving them butterfly kisses, and... I'm sorry. I can't. I just can't. I know Dr. Harper's heart is absolutely in the right place, and I can't even imagine what it's like to have experiences like that as part of your normal work day, but I read lines like that and I can't help seeing it as human tragedy turned into a sappy Hallmark card, and my brain just kind of shuts down.
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LibraryThing member forsanolim
Dr. Michele Harper writes this memoir as a Philadelphia ER physician. The book is structured around eleven or so stories of different patients that she treated at various points in her career. Along the way, Dr. Harper discusses her own path into and in medicine. Having completed her residency in
I really enjoy memoirs, and I often find medical memoirs really interesting. Though I appreciated Dr. Harper's perspective, this memoir unfortunately wasn't my favorite. I'm hesitant to say that a memoir ought to have a "message" or similar, but I don't think I'm totally clear on what the main takeaway of this book was. The book was partially a recount of a number of patient stories, a description of Harper's own childhood trauma and career trajectory, and a (slightly preachy) reflection on the benefits of yoga and meditation. I didn't feel that some of these threads were as fully developed as they might have been (I especially think that the book could have benefited from discussing more of her adolescence/young adulthood), and the bridging between them was a little confusing sometimes. The audiobook narrator, from my perspective, also went a little over-the-top with some of the voice acting with some of the patients, which didn't help my listening experience.
At the same time, I do think that the book does have things going for it. One aspect that I found really interesting were Dr. Harper's comments on the hospital system; it was really interesting to read about the more professional/systemic aspects of practicing medicine, since that is something that I've read less about. I also found her comments on how her work at the hospital interacted with larger societal systems really noteworthy--two particular points that stood out to me were the case the patients Dominic (with discussions of when patients can be examined against their will) and Paul (again with discussions related to the legal system, here particularly with psychiatry and the prison system).
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New York and having worked at a few different hospitals in Philly (the last hospital mentioned in the memoir, where [I think] a majority of the mentioned cases took place, being the Philadelphia VA), Dr. Harper discusses her experiences in medicine as a woman of color in the field of medicine.I really enjoy memoirs, and I often find medical memoirs really interesting. Though I appreciated Dr. Harper's perspective, this memoir unfortunately wasn't my favorite. I'm hesitant to say that a memoir ought to have a "message" or similar, but I don't think I'm totally clear on what the main takeaway of this book was. The book was partially a recount of a number of patient stories, a description of Harper's own childhood trauma and career trajectory, and a (slightly preachy) reflection on the benefits of yoga and meditation. I didn't feel that some of these threads were as fully developed as they might have been (I especially think that the book could have benefited from discussing more of her adolescence/young adulthood), and the bridging between them was a little confusing sometimes. The audiobook narrator, from my perspective, also went a little over-the-top with some of the voice acting with some of the patients, which didn't help my listening experience.
At the same time, I do think that the book does have things going for it. One aspect that I found really interesting were Dr. Harper's comments on the hospital system; it was really interesting to read about the more professional/systemic aspects of practicing medicine, since that is something that I've read less about. I also found her comments on how her work at the hospital interacted with larger societal systems really noteworthy--two particular points that stood out to me were the case the patients Dominic (with discussions of when patients can be examined against their will) and Paul (again with discussions related to the legal system, here particularly with psychiatry and the prison system).
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LibraryThing member kaulsu
Harper claims that our culture today, still, reveals a "landscape that requires all women to pound tenaciously against the proverbial glass ceiling, which we've...discovered is made of palladium." This is the story of a person who grew up in a home of abuse, both verbal and physical. A child whose
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family lived beyond their means (as the saying goes), whose children were educated in private school, who herself over-achieved, and who is currently stuck in a field that doesn't even have a glass ceiling. But she continues to care, to try to help. In the end, Harper discovers the definition of "forgiveness" is freedom. I shall try to remember this, too. Show Less
LibraryThing member ShannonRose4
I simply couldn't put this memoir down. It's a debut unlike any other; If you think this a medical career memoir you'd be wrong and pleasantly surprised. Michele brings to light what is often forgotten in the medical shows: First you become a doctor and then you discover how to become a healer.
LibraryThing member ShannonRose4
I simply couldn't put this memoir down. It's a debut unlike any other; If you think this a medical career memoir you'd be wrong and pleasantly surprised. Michele brings to light what is often forgotten in the medical shows: First you become a doctor and then you discover how to become a healer.
LibraryThing member bobbieharv
Interesting story about the double challenge of being a both a doctor and a woman. I just cringed at the times patients called her "ma'am. My only problem was it seemed a little didactic, which detracted a bit from her brave story.
LibraryThing member thewanderingjew
The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir, Michele Harper, author; Nicole Lewis, narrator
In spite of efforts to thwart her desire to heal, to rise up the ranks in the medical profession because she was highly qualified, well trained and filled with the compassion to do a better job than many already in the
Michele Harper has written a compelling book, in beautiful prose, with clarity and compassion. It is through her eyes that we glimpse the world of those in pain, those who need help in the direst of situations, if not in all eyes, then at least in their own, that is certain. She guides those she can, to better health, calms those who need support, and comforts those who have lost all hope. From the words on the pages of this book, one can only admire this woman who seems largely selfless and without animus toward anyone. Her desire is to heal.
There are moments highlighted, when one learns that she understands, as a woman of color, the plight of those less fortunate, less advantaged, and there are moments when she promotes the ideas of male toxicity and systemic racism with which some readers may not agree, but she uses examples of such injustice to fortify her reasons for these beliefs. They are anecdotal, and they are colored by the opinions of someone who has experienced a large dose of some of the abusive behavior she describes. The readers can draw their own conclusions regarding her philosophy, but they can not dispute the humanity of this woman or her efforts to heal and save all those who come before her with a grace and kindness, a sincere interest and effort to better the world through the influence of love. Her confidence and courage is inspiring. Her efforts area heroic.
In spite of efforts to thwart her desire to heal, to rise up the ranks in the medical profession because she was highly qualified, well trained and filled with the compassion to do a better job than many already in the
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field, she soldiered on and on, always grasping hope from the mouth of despair. Turned down for a job no one else applied for, a job for which she was perfect, she did not quit, she simply moved on to a place she hoped to fare better. She brought her healing hopes to the VA Hospital. She works to aid those less advantaged, people of color, women and men who are underrepresented, prisoners who are not afforded basic civil rights, women who are abused and ignored, women who were refused the same rights that men were happily afforded in some instances, even when roadblocks were placed before her. Michele Harper is the Emergency Room doctor we all hope to find if we are in a traumatic situation that brings us there.Michele Harper has written a compelling book, in beautiful prose, with clarity and compassion. It is through her eyes that we glimpse the world of those in pain, those who need help in the direst of situations, if not in all eyes, then at least in their own, that is certain. She guides those she can, to better health, calms those who need support, and comforts those who have lost all hope. From the words on the pages of this book, one can only admire this woman who seems largely selfless and without animus toward anyone. Her desire is to heal.
There are moments highlighted, when one learns that she understands, as a woman of color, the plight of those less fortunate, less advantaged, and there are moments when she promotes the ideas of male toxicity and systemic racism with which some readers may not agree, but she uses examples of such injustice to fortify her reasons for these beliefs. They are anecdotal, and they are colored by the opinions of someone who has experienced a large dose of some of the abusive behavior she describes. The readers can draw their own conclusions regarding her philosophy, but they can not dispute the humanity of this woman or her efforts to heal and save all those who come before her with a grace and kindness, a sincere interest and effort to better the world through the influence of love. Her confidence and courage is inspiring. Her efforts area heroic.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
nonfiction memoir - Black ER doctor in Philadelphia (inner city ER and Veterans hospital ER; relationships, absent/abusive father, personal recovery and helping others, touching on race issues with potential triggers - patient histories include sexual assault, drug addiction, mental illness
Really
Really
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good - highly recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member SqueakyChu
The experience of reading this book felt disjointed to me. I could not understand why the author only put in her childhood experience of a father physically abusive to her mother and brother, said she would write nothing about her experiences as an undergraduate at Harvard, talked about her divorce
I was annoyed that in the writing they were so many terms that I did not know, even as a retired health professional. I was also annoyed that the author wrote about what she “was not going to write about” despite the reason.
The chapters themselves were good with the author presenting herself as a well qualified and caring emergency room physician. The individual patient stories presented situations of real social concerns. I consider this book good, but not one of the more memorable doctor’s memoirs.
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and breaking up with her boyfriend, wrote about her spiritual quest, and then made most of the chapters vignettes about patient experiences she had as an emergency room doctor. It was not until I read the epilogue that I realized the book was about being broken and then resolving that situation. I should have taken the clues from the book title, but I didn’t.I was annoyed that in the writing they were so many terms that I did not know, even as a retired health professional. I was also annoyed that the author wrote about what she “was not going to write about” despite the reason.
The chapters themselves were good with the author presenting herself as a well qualified and caring emergency room physician. The individual patient stories presented situations of real social concerns. I consider this book good, but not one of the more memorable doctor’s memoirs.
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LibraryThing member dele2451
An intimate look at emergency medicine in modern urban America as well as the survival strategy of one accomplished black female doctor working within the constraints of that system. We should all be so lucky to be treated by a medical professional with Dr Harper's professional skills, empathy,
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energy, and communication abilities. I hope she is still publishing and practicing 25 years from now. Show Less
LibraryThing member RoeschLeisure
Have you ever broken a bone? If you have, then you probably have thought that you are considered to be physically broken. But what about all those individuals, including myself, who have never broken a bone? Does that mean that we have never been broken?
It is an interesting question to assess —
In The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper, the author defies this question. She states how we are all in fact broken, one way or another. To further explain, the idea behind her experience as an African American female emergency physician is that each of us has been broken at one point in our lives. Whether that brokenness be physical, mental or spiritual, we are all struggling with our own invisible fractures that we make only selected people aware of. The importance now is to learn whether we have healed from these fractures.
Reading this book, I had originally thought it was a novel, but to my surprise, it was a memoir. In this memoir, the reader can witness her experience as an African American woman growing up in a wealthy but abusive household and how that shaped her purpose to help heal and serve others.
As you read each chapter, you get insight into the stories that shaped Harper as an individual and as a physician in the 21st century. Her experiences and her view on brokenness stem from what she has encountered from patients who have taught her how one individual can be broken in many different ways but still find healing. Of course, there will always be individuals who will never change, who will refuse to heal, but at least there's space for those who are willing to endure the hardships, endure the pain and emerge stronger than when they arrived.
This book was considered for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize because of the author's outcome by the end of the memoir. As you start the read, you notice how there is a lot of conflict and self-turmoil toward self-healing and self-discovery. Despite all these issues, the author takes accountability and leads her life toward finding a balance that leads to a peaceful and reassuring conclusion.
Toward the end of the book, she states:
Brokenness can be a remarkable gift. If we allow it, it can expand our space to transform, this potential space is slight, humble, and unassuming. It may seem counterintuitive to claim the benefits of having been broken, but it is precisely when cracks appear in the bedrock of what we thought we knew that the gravity of what has fallen away becomes evident. (Page 278)
Working with a patient with alcohol use disorder, she writes of the progression of healing through phases from insufferable to sweet:
The next phase will be bitter and prolonged; even unpalatable to the point of insufferable when you’re back at home. … It’s the other parts, the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts that you have to do. Not only do you have to begin this healing while you’re here, but you now have to accomplish it without the old crutch of the alcohol. (Page 251)
From this book, I am now eager to read more from BIPOC authors as well as topics that pertain to healing, human evolution, social justice and romance.
Review submitted by Camila Sanchez-Gonzalez (11/11/22)
It is an interesting question to assess —
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what it is to be truly broken and whether we tie negativity within that brokenness. The interesting thing about bones and fractures is that most of them heal, and one is able to function afterward — sometimes better and stronger than before. In The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper, the author defies this question. She states how we are all in fact broken, one way or another. To further explain, the idea behind her experience as an African American female emergency physician is that each of us has been broken at one point in our lives. Whether that brokenness be physical, mental or spiritual, we are all struggling with our own invisible fractures that we make only selected people aware of. The importance now is to learn whether we have healed from these fractures.
Reading this book, I had originally thought it was a novel, but to my surprise, it was a memoir. In this memoir, the reader can witness her experience as an African American woman growing up in a wealthy but abusive household and how that shaped her purpose to help heal and serve others.
As you read each chapter, you get insight into the stories that shaped Harper as an individual and as a physician in the 21st century. Her experiences and her view on brokenness stem from what she has encountered from patients who have taught her how one individual can be broken in many different ways but still find healing. Of course, there will always be individuals who will never change, who will refuse to heal, but at least there's space for those who are willing to endure the hardships, endure the pain and emerge stronger than when they arrived.
This book was considered for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize because of the author's outcome by the end of the memoir. As you start the read, you notice how there is a lot of conflict and self-turmoil toward self-healing and self-discovery. Despite all these issues, the author takes accountability and leads her life toward finding a balance that leads to a peaceful and reassuring conclusion.
Toward the end of the book, she states:
Brokenness can be a remarkable gift. If we allow it, it can expand our space to transform, this potential space is slight, humble, and unassuming. It may seem counterintuitive to claim the benefits of having been broken, but it is precisely when cracks appear in the bedrock of what we thought we knew that the gravity of what has fallen away becomes evident. (Page 278)
Working with a patient with alcohol use disorder, she writes of the progression of healing through phases from insufferable to sweet:
The next phase will be bitter and prolonged; even unpalatable to the point of insufferable when you’re back at home. … It’s the other parts, the mental, emotional, and spiritual parts that you have to do. Not only do you have to begin this healing while you’re here, but you now have to accomplish it without the old crutch of the alcohol. (Page 251)
From this book, I am now eager to read more from BIPOC authors as well as topics that pertain to healing, human evolution, social justice and romance.
Review submitted by Camila Sanchez-Gonzalez (11/11/22)
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Awards
Dayton Literary Peace Prize (Shortlist — Nonfiction — 2021)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Longlist — Nonfiction — 2021)
Athenaeum Literary Award (Winner — 2020)
ISBN
0525537384 / 9780525537380