Surviving Arrogance

How a Patient Saved the Soul of a Surgeon

Non-Fiction - Memoir
170 Pages
Reviewed on 07/22/2020
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Mamta Madhavan for Readers' Favorite

Surviving Arrogance: How a Patient Saved the Soul of a Surgeon by S. David Nathanson MD is a memoir dedicated to the author's patient Marianne who influenced his life and made him aware of his arrogance and egotistical nature. The book showcases the author's personal stories about his experiences with his patients, and how he developed courage, persistence, honor, duty, responsibility, and ambition during his training. He speaks about how his astounding victories in his surgeries made him feel like a superhero which led to him ending up with a giant ego. It is finally Marianne, his patient, who leads him to his awakening and makes him realize that every patient is sacred, and he attributes this awakening to his growth and allowing him to learn and share skills more effectively.

Surviving Arrogance is about rediscovering humanity and S. David Nathanson's rebirth by getting rid of his arrogant, egotistical, and narcissistic behavior. He speaks about his meeting with Marianne, a twenty-three-year-old woman who was diagnosed with a rare malignant abdominal tumor. Though she almost died in her twenties, he speaks about how she went on to live for three decades thanks to modern medicine, alternative therapies, and faith. He speaks about how she unknowingly exposed him to himself. This was the beginning of his recognizing the beauty of another person, not only in their anatomy, pathology, and physiology but also their beautiful souls. The surgeon's transformation from that of an arrogant man to someone who is thankful and grateful to people after shedding his previous personality is encouraging. It is motivating for readers to read about the conditions created for his rising consciousness and awareness, which played a huge role in helping him escape his arrogant egotism and become human.