Awards

• Commended for Books for a Better Life (First Book) 2011
• Winner of Michigan Notable Books 2012

Overview

Tony Youn grew up up one of two Asian-American kids in a small town of near wall-to-wall whiteness. Too tall and too thin, he wore thick Coke-bottle glasses, braces, Hannibal Lecter headgear, and had a protruding jaw that one day began to grow, expanding Pinocchio-like, protruding to an unthinkable, monstrous size. After high school graduation, while other seniors partied at the shore or explored Europe, Youn lay strapped in an oral surgeon’s chair as he broke his jaw, then reset it and wired it shut for six weeks. Ironically, it was this brutal makeover that led him to his life's calling -- and the four years of angst, flubs, triumphs, non-stop studying and intermittant heavy drinking that eventually earned him an M.D. Thanks to a small circle of close friends and an obsessive drive to overachieve, Youn transformed from a shy, skinny, awkward nerd with no confidence and no clue into a renowned and successful plastic surgeon. In Stitches is a heartfelt, candid, and laugh-out-loud memoir of one man's bumpy road to becoming a doctor and learning to be confortable in his own skin.

Full Product Details

9781451608441

Table of Contents

Reviews

In 1980, I read The House of God , the sardonic story of residency training at Harvard's Beth Israel Hospital. Now, some 30 years later, readers are brought into the dorm room, the anatomy lab, the classroom, and the operating room with Dr. Youn as he describes his medical school training. The reader sweats the stresses and enjoys the laughs med students experience. I was touched by the honesty and frankness of the experiences he describes--most people understand the life of a doctor, but few understand the sacrifices that young men and women make while in medical school. Fasten your seatbelts and get ready for a fun ride. This memoir will certainly keep you In Stitches. -- Arthur W. Perry, MD, FACS, author of The Real Life of a Surgeon

In Stitches is a fast-paced, mesmerizing autobiography that's laced with dark humor and memorable scenes. -- Lansing State Journal

Laugh out loud -- USA Today

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