Crichton, Michael (non-fiction)

• Travels

  • A series of non-fiction autobiographical short stories about Crichton's early days in medical school and so forth, before he really became an author. Some of the stories are pretty outlandish. I don't know which to believe less: the one about the gorgeous nympho patient he had as a psychiatry student or the one about him having a paranormal conversation with some kind of rock. The medical school stories are the best, and the whole thing is pretty readable, but keep a hefty grain of salt by the reading table.

• Five Patients

  • Written in 1968 and re-released a few years ago with a new prologue, this is Crichton's study of current issues in medicine discussed with the help of five different hospital patient cases. Surprisingly fresh, you can really see the roots of many "ER" episodes here. The social commentary is also interesting given the current debates in the US on health care. Definitely worth finding in a used book store.

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