Product Description
"Dramatic, moving, and utterly fascinating." —New York Times Book Review With poignant insight and humor, When the Air Hits Your Brain chronicles one man’s evolution from naïve and ambitious young intern to world-class neurosurgeon. In electrifying detail, Frank Vertosick Jr. describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22-caliber bullet lodged in his skull. Told through intimate portraits of Vertosick’s patients and unsparing yet fascinatingly detailed descriptions of surgical procedures, When the Air Hits Your Brain—the culmination of decades spent struggling to learn an unforgiving craft—illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room. .

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 41 reviews)

Well, he is a Brain Surgeon after all. by A. M. Rosa (Woodside, New York USA)

5 Stars
November 20, 2009
I found this book to be brilliantly written with a very human and compassionate style that shows you the internal conflict that a person of conscience, which Dr. Vertosick clearly is, must go through to provide the cool and rock solid professionalism needed to apply steel to gray matter while still being able to empathize with the human being in their charge. Having had loved ones in the care of the Neurosurgical Service, I have experienced first hand the gut wrenching problems and decisions which are face on a daily basis attempting to care for a patient that has had the misfortune of a defect occuring within the confines of the skull. How anyone can survive on this service is a testiment to their conviction as a healer. Bad outcomes occur, even with the greatest of talent and the seamingly most favorable of odds. Dr. Vertosick shows that even the most steeled veterins lose a small piece of themselves when things don't work out, whether they realize it or not. It is a look behind the mask, behind the veil, not only for the patient or family, but I think also for the physician who may have lost themselves in the process of learning their profession. One passage that is well worth the price of the entire book is Dr. Vertosick's discussion of cancer and what it actually is. It is possibly the clearest and most sober discussions on the subject I have ever read or heard and I feel that it has given me an insight into it that can bring peace as opposed to fear or anger. While this book has been difficult for me to read due to the personal feelings and experiences it has caused me to relive, I have found it a worthwhile rollercoaster; one that helps me to put into perspective some dark times.

Interesting book shared with friends. by Deane Fowler (Monroeville, Pa.)

5 Stars
September 07, 2009
I heard this author discussing his book one day on Quinn and Rose's morning show, and I was intrigued. I've been in the health care field for a long time, and I enjoy reading and learning more about medicine. After I read this book, I passed it along to a friend, and she passed it to her daughter, who had had brain surgery about a year ago. They both enjoyed it very much. This physician/author lives in the Pittsburgh area, and so do my friends and I so maybe we enjoyed it more knowing that about him.

Admiration for the man and his brain: well done Dr. Vertosick! by Emre Sevinc (Antwerp, Belgium)

5 Stars
August 02, 2009
Dr. Vertosick provides a very lively and personal account of his neurosurgery career. He has a very good sense of humour, while trying to correct some TV-induced wrong assumptions about the medical field he doesn't hesitate to talk about how he received some little but critical help from a patient who watched some medical TV series :) He describes his transition from being a very young student of medicine, to becoming an assistant at the world's best neurosurgery department, and finally to becoming an expert neurosurgeon under the supervision of another very disciplined and famous expert doctor. While doing that he helps the reader see the intricacies and beauty of that small, fatty, bloody tissue which makes us what we are: the brain. After all the difficult cases he describes I truly believe that one has to be really crazy to become a neurosurgeon and operate on brain, or really love that field of study (maybe both). Dr. Vertosick made me realize once again what a miraculous thing that brain of ours is. As a book of popular science I can compare the quality and smoothness of narration to one of my favorite authors, Oliver Sacks. PS: It was nice to see the name of a Turkish neurosurgeon Prof. Dr. Gazi Yasargil in the book, too.

Better than fiction by E. Taylor (Sunland, CA USA)

5 Stars
June 22, 2009
I haven't read a page turner as good as this since I was a teen and couldn't get enough James Bond books. This is even better, since it's real. The author's style is non-formal and somewhat "street talk" at times, and at other times highly informative. But the author really knows how to keep up the suspense. And since he doesn't only pick cases where everything turned out ok, you get a real feel for his profession and the kinds of people needed to be surgeons. I'm only 70% done with this book in one day and I'm already looking for more by this author.

fantastic read by Scott Thiel (Edgewood, WA USA)

5 Stars
January 25, 2009
I've read a lot of medical bios, but this was one of the most enjoyable.

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