Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam (2007, Unabridged, Compact Disc)

Dr. Vincent Lam’s award-winning first book is a loosely-related collection of short stories revealing significant moments in the making of four fictional doctors in Canada: Ming, Fitzgerald, Chen and Sri. The tales are chronologically presented and detail the stressful singlemindedness of the pre-med student along with the enormous challenges of medical school, internship, residency and specialization. As one would expect of a book written by an emergency room physician, there is realism, urgency, and excitement aplenty. But Lam’s characters are not cardboard heroes. While some of the vignettes show these young doctors capable of luminous moments of compassion, others catch them at times when they are sleep-deprived, intoxicated, confused, spiteful, or motivated by self-interest.

Slightly uneven, the collection, over all, is memorable. One is not likely to forget the E-R visit of Eli, an unsympathetic victim of police brutality; Ming’s obstetrical patient, who needs an emergency C-section; Sri’s concerns over Winston, his first bona fide psychotic; or, the response of the medical community to the SARS epidemic.

Reader Christoper Lane wisely chooses not to compete with the drama of the stories themselves. His performance is low-keyed and straightforward. He gives each character a distinct voice, including a serviceable Chinese accent for the female Ming -- and a particularly expressive Indian accent for Sri.