The House of God
by Samuel Shem · first published 1978
67% recommend33% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A raunchy, darkly funny inside look at a first-year medical internship. It is realistic rather than philosophizing, and it still rings true for interns and residents today.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
As in all hospitals, the medical hierarchy of The House of God was a pyramid - a lot at the bottom and one at the top. Put another way, it was like an ice-cream cone...you had to lick your way up!Roy Basch, the 'red-hot' Rhodes Scholar, thought differently - but then he hadn't met Hyper Hooper, out to win the most post-mortems of the year award, nor Molly, the nurse with the crash helmet. He hadn't even met any of the Gomers ('Get Out of My Emergency Room!'), the no-hopers who wanted to die but who were worth more alive...The House of God is a wild and raunchily irreverent novel that teaches y
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1) The Way Things Work, by David Macaulay, first edition, first read when I was, maybe 12. Taught me half-adders. Degrees in physics and medicine, and I still refer to this cartoon book. 2) The House of God by Samuel Shem. It's about a medical intern 30 years ago. Raunchy, smart, and, now that I'm an intern, all too true.
on “Ask HN: Please name two of your most favorite books.” ↗For something a touch more down to earth regarding medicine: House of God, by Samuel Shem. It might be difficult to believe, but this book is very realistic. Much more so than many other insufferable navel-gazing books about medical work taking grand philosophical stances.
on “Ask HN: Recommend books that give you insight into other professions” ↗The House of God
on “Ask HN: What's the book that people in your field pretend to have read?” ↗