cover image Gifts of Time

Gifts of Time

Fred J. Epstein. William Morrow & Company, $22 (253pp) ISBN 978-0-688-11029-1

Epstein, director of the New York University Medical Center's Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery, operates on children with tumors of the brain and spinal column. Here, collaborating with medical writer Shimberg, he recounts the stories of patients (and their families) who seek his help from all parts of the world, such as 10-year-old Kevin from the Midwest, and Luis, a slum child from Ecuador. Writing in the first person, Epstein discusses the emotional and surgical challenges his young patients present. Alternating third-person narratives follow the surgeon and his associates through the laborious procedures by which spinal, pituitary or brainstem tumors are ``debulked'' via laser and other technologies. This heart-wrenching chronicle, which reveals Epstein as a highly empathetic, fiercely committed physician, also touches on tragic cases in which he helped parents to accept their child's death. (Mar.)