- Paperback: 240 pages
- Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (April 27 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1400048699
- ISBN-13: 978-1400048694
- Product Dimensions: 13.1 x 1.4 x 20.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #546,180 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
At 52, Stern, a well-known foodie-she and her husband, Michael, have coauthored some 20 books on American culture and food, including Roadfood-found herself profoundly depressed. Holed up in the couple's Connecticut home, she'd lost interest in doing much of anything. Phobias (bus riding, air travel, claustrophobia, etc.) made her isolation worse. One day, on a whim, she responded to the "volunteers wanted" notice at the local firehouse and signed up for EMT training. No one teaching "boot camp"-style classes would have tolerated a queasy (much less depressed or phobic) recruit, so she had to tough it out. Humor definitely helped. As Stern remarks, after a few classes covering major trauma, "I am no longer clinically depressed but instead am dying of everything simultaneously." Some of her class notes are funny, like her list of EMT no-nos: don't replace organs hanging from bodies, don't give CPR to a severed head, don't attempt to revive someone in a "state of advanced decomposition" and if "you have a patient whose leg or arm is partially amputated, do not pull it off to make things `neat.' " After training and certification, the real work started, and while initially it did the trick-"in helping others I learned to help myself"-the ultimate truth, that she couldn't save everyone, brought back her depression. Stern's memoir is a quirky mix of humor, self-doubt and courage.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
In broad terms, this is a familiar story: a woman is dissatisfied with her lot, embarks upon a life-altering, seemingly ill-advised adventure that fills her with hope and happiness. But fill in the details, and you find a very unusual story, indeed. Stern wasn't just any workaday person; she was a writer, a popular author of more than 20 books, a magazine editor, and a radio commentator. Her dissatisfaction wasn't your typical midlife angst, but a deep and paralyzing depression that, by the time she was in her early 50s, had rendered her unable to travel or appear in public. And her life-altering adventure was, of all things, becoming an emergency medical technician, a volunteer job that literally put other people's lives in her hands. Making the switch from author of such books as The Encyclopedia of Pop Culture to EMT put a bit of a strain on both Stern and her husband, but it enriched her in ways that readers will find both touching and surprising. A remarkable variation on a time-honored theme. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
I am G-65. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
I am G-65. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Funny? Or uneducated?,
By Karen Strand (Lacey, WA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT (Hardcover)
Jane Stern's writing is witty, descriptive and informative. However, I was surprised that she would continually use such crude terms for bodily parts and functions. Was it an attempt at humor? I don't know. I found it extremely offensive. It made an intelligent woman appear as an uneducated one.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful blend of pathos, humor, and honesty.,
By
This review is from: Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT (Hardcover)
"Ambulance Girl" is the absorbing true story of how and why Jane Stern, a depressed and anxious borderline agoraphobic, decides to become an Emergency Medical Technician. Jane was a 52-year-old writer for a food magazine when she realized that she was sinking fast emotionally. Her marriage was beginning to fray, she spent an inordinate amount of time loitering around the house in her bathrobe, and she suffered from panic attacks. Sessions with therapists were not helping.Stern started to turn her life around with a new therapist, and she decided that in order to help herself, she would have to help others. She studied to become, of all things, an Emergency Medical Technician with the volunteer fire department in Georgetown, Connecticut. This was a strange choice for a woman who was emotionally shaky and chronically terrified. "Ambulance Girl" is both hilarious and poignant. Stern recalls how she had to overcome her claustrophobia and fear of moving vehicles before she could ride in an ambulance. She also writes with wit and disarming candor about her many shortcomings. When she first started out, she made so many mistakes that she felt sorry for the victims who were stuck with her as their EMT! On various occasions, she found herself babbling incoherently into her two-way radio, forgetting her eyeglasses and watch when she went out on a call, and accidentally kicking the broken hip of an elderly lady who was lying helplessly on the floor. In spite of her initial ineptitude, Stern became a competent EMT, and she was gratified to discover that her work invigorated her and imbued her with a new sense of purpose. Stern deserves a great deal of credit for lifting herself out of a deep depression and gaining the acceptance of the Georgetown firemen and her fellow EMT's. "Ambulance Girl" is an entertaining and unusual account of a brave woman's determination to face her fears and bring out the best in herself against all odds.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Laughing out Loud!,
By Marilyn Richardson (Tuscaloosa, Al) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ambulance Girl: How I Saved Myself By Becoming an EMT (Hardcover)
This was one of the funniest books I have ever read. Jane's self depricating sense of humor and her honesty about her hang-ups will keep you chuckling all the way through. What's a nice girl like Jane doing in an ambulance? Learning to face her fears and balance her life from the isolation she experienced as a writer. Her hilarious thoughts and experiences while fumbling through EMT school will amuse you and make people around you wonder what you are laughing about! I love her style of writing and would read another of her books in a minute except I think they are all cooking books and I don't cook. I highly recommend this book for a quick weekend read.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
