‘Classic.’ A book which people praise but don’t read—Mark Twain

Blog Post by James Amos, MD, The University of Iowa Hosp and Clinics

When I announced the publishing of our book, Psychosomatic Medicine, An Introduction to Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry,  someone said that it’s good to finally get a book into print and out of one’s head.  The book in earlier years found other ways out of my head, mainly in stapled, paper clipped, spiral bound, dog-eared pages of  homemade manuals, for use on our consultation serviceIt’s a handbook and meant to be read of course, but quickly and on the run. As I’ve said in a previous blog, it makes no pretension to being the tour de force textbook in  America  that inspired it. However, any textbook can evolve into an example of Twain’s definition of a classic.  The handbook writer is a faithful and humble steward who can keep the spirit of the classic lively.