What Cannot Be Undone: True Stories of a Life in Medicine

Walter M. Robinson

Sep 2022 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Daniel Thomas May

About this audiobook

In his award-winning debut essay collection, What Cannot Be Undone, Walter M. Robinson shares surprising stories of illness and medicine that do not sacrifice hard truth for easy dramatics. These true stories are filled with details of difficult days and nights in the world of high-tech medical care, and they show the ongoing struggle in making critical decisions with no good answer. This collection presents the raw moments where his expertise in medical ethics and pediatrics are put to the test. He is neither saint, nor hero, nor wizard. Robinson admits that on his best days he was merely ordinary. Yet in writing down the authentic stories of his patients, Robinson discovers what led him to the practice of medicine-and how his idealism was no match for the realities he faced in modern health care.

About the author

Walter M. Robinson is a physician and a writer in Massachusetts. He is also a founding editor of EastOver Press and Cutleaf, an online literary journal. His essays have appeared in wildness, Months to Years, AGNI, Ruminate, the Sun, the Literary Review, and Harvard Review.

Daniel Thomas May is an experienced actor and audiobook narrator. His "energetic," "confident," "deft," and "commanding" narration makes him particularly adept at portraying adventurers of all sorts, whether in fantasy, sci-fi, horror, romance, or nonfiction dramatizations.