Norman Cousins the legendary editor of 'Saturday Review of Books' presents in this work his philosophy of living with , and overcoming illness. Much of this has to do with the patient's attitude toward himself, his physician, the world as a whole. Cousins again and again emphasizes the importance of having a positive attitude, a hopeful and joyful outlook on life. He especially warns against the dangers of panicing and subjecting oneself to undue stress. He as a highly curious, and also very social person knows many of the major heart- researchers personally. This work also thus tells about his meeting with, and learning from them. He stresses again and again the importance of the physician caring for the patient. He speaks about how many technicians of medicine fail their patients by ignoring their 'human' side. Cousins comes across as an extremely likeable and friendly person, one whose aim is to truly help others. He is also a very good writer, and the work flows and is a pleasurable read.?The lessons he teaches here have become 'commonplace truths' though they were less so at the time of his writing. I suspect many readers of this work will come away from it with an improved sense of the proper way to deal with illness.
