The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review Paperback – February 1, 2008

A 2008 anthology of ~90 short stories, essays, and poems drawn from the NYU School of Medicine's semi-annual literary journal.Each entry deals in some way with illness or coping, although sometimes minimally and often peripherally. There are doctors and hospitals, but most of the pieces are about people in ordinary community. Combined, they threaten toward darkness. Yet in the midst there's a hilarious, satirical fantasy, and poems that leave me with a "Wow!"All of the writing is first-rate -- after nearly every entry, I found myself flipping to the contributor bios in the back to learn more about the writer. Highly recommended.

As with any such collection, the quality of any given work is quite variable, but overall most of the material is well written and poignant. I found "Studies in the Subjunctive" an especially moving story. I would highly recommend this collection to anyone interested in medical humanities.

It is a fun book that will be enjoys by all but especially members of the medical profession.

A superb collection of stories, poems and essays related to mental and physical health and healing.Written by those who heal and those who would be healed. Published by New York University Department of Medicine.

Wow, a great book if you're dealing with any health issues, honest "fiction" that is raw and real if you're going through the raw and real

The best!!!

Was expecting more, had heard a lot about this publication

It is essential for physicians to have empathy for their patients. For non-physicians, the ability to understand feelings of themselves and of others promotes harmonious relationships. For some,empathy is innate; for others it can be developed. Literature is an excellent means to achieve understanding; THE BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW is a valuable resource towards this end. Some of the stories have a medical background; others do not. "Trotsky in the Bronx" (2012 Goldenberg Prize for Fiction) recounts Yiddish Culture in the 1917-1924 era with superb humor. "The Crazy One" ( 2012 Burns Archive Prize for Non-Fiction) describes two well dressed women having lunch in a candlelit restaurant. Both psychologists, they share a painful secret. The poem with the unlikely title: "Portrait of My Parents Making Love as a Stomach Virus" is the 2012 winner of The Marica and Jan Vilcek Prize for Poetry and actually has a romantic theme. The book: "The Healing Art of Writing, Volume 1" is reviewed and described as honest and never dull. THE BELLEVUE LITERARY REVIEW is unique, thought provoking and thoroughly entertaining. It truly is a Journal of Humanity and human experience.

Brilliant reading, thoroughly enjoyed