Hot Lights, Cold Steel

"An orthopedic surgeon's down-to-earth, fast-paced, and frequently funny memoir of his residency [told] with a born storyteller's skill." —Kirkus Reviews

Michael Collins' account of his four-year surgical residency at the famed Mayo Clinic traces his rise from an eager but clueless first-year resident navigating chaos and feelings of inadequacy to accomplished Chief Resident in his final year. With unparalleled humor, he recounts the disparity between people's perceptions of a doctor's glamorous life and the real thing: a succession of rundown cars towed to the junk yard, long weekends moonlighting at rural hospitals, a family that grows larger every year, and a laughable income. Collins' good nature helps him over some of the rough spots—but cannot spare him the harsh realities and heart-wrenching decisions of a doctor's life. A teenager's leg is mangled by a tractor: risk the boy's life to save his leg, or amputate immediately? A woman diagnosed with bone cancer injures her hip: should he recommend a painful operation even though she has only months to live? Unflinching and deeply engaging, Hot Lights, Cold Steel captures the author's struggles to reconcile his idealism and desire to heal with the recognition of his own limitations and imperfections.


"Collins' life as a surgical resident is heartbreaking one minute and triumphant the next. You'll laugh and cry and cheer." —Augusten Burroughs, New York Times–bestselling author of Dry

"At once darkly humorous and truly compassionate. Not since House of God has there been such a ferociously funny look at the world of hospital medicine." —Michael Palmer, New York Times–bestselling author of The Last Surgeon

"I adore this book." —Tess Gerritsen, New York Times–bestselling author of the Rizzoli & Isles novels