Matt
I’ve read a few books like this, where each chapter is essentially a history lesson on a certain part of a greater object. Generally I love the way these books are organized but find the writing itself dry. This is very much not the case here as the 15 chapters that Dr. Jonathan Reisman writes about various parts of the human body are all fantastic to read.
I think there are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the most obvious: Reisman is a good writer. The issue I had with those other books is that while the authors were clearly knowledgeable about what they were writing about, they weren’t able to deliver the information in an interesting way or even a way that worked in this medium. I can picture them as good history lectures, but nonfiction writing is not just about presenting facts. Reisman structures each of his chapters well enough to the point that while the reader is learning a lot of information, it’s given in easily digestible chunks. Each chapter being relatively short also helps with that: the book clocks in at just over 200 pages, meaning each body part is discussed for about 13 pages. The short nature of each chapter means Reisman has to make each paragraph count and he does. Another thing that helps is the fact that Reisman has lived a genuinely interesting life and as such he is able to tell personal vignettes about his own life as it relates to the body part that is being discussed. These vignettes allow the book to be entertaining as well as informative. For me that is the most important thing a non-fiction book can do. All in all this is a pretty amazing book and very worth anyone’s time.
I’ve read a few books like this, where each chapter is essentially a history lesson on a certain part of a greater object. Generally I love the way these books are organized but find the writing itself dry. This is very much not the case here as the 15 chapters that Dr. Jonathan Reisman writes about various parts of the human body are all fantastic to read.
I think there are a couple of reasons for this. The first is the most obvious: Reisman is a good writer. The issue I had with those other books is that while the authors were clearly knowledgeable about what they were writing about, they weren’t able to deliver the information in an interesting way or even a way that worked in this medium. I can picture them as good history lectures, but nonfiction writing is not just about presenting facts. Reisman structures each of his chapters well enough to the point that while the reader is learning a lot of information, it’s given in easily digestible chunks. Each chapter being relatively short also helps with that: the book clocks in at just over 200 pages, meaning each body part is discussed for about 13 pages. The short nature of each chapter means Reisman has to make each paragraph count and he does. Another thing that helps is the fact that Reisman has lived a genuinely interesting life and as such he is able to tell personal vignettes about his own life as it relates to the body part that is being discussed. These vignettes allow the book to be entertaining as well as informative. For me that is the most important thing a non-fiction book can do. All in all this is a pretty amazing book and very worth anyone’s time.