Well this was frickin’ delightful. Dr. Barbara Lazio provides a look into our heads (literally) with her hilarious and poignant Off the top of My Head. Yes, the title is an indicator of the overall tone.
Lazio puts together a collection of essays about life, parenting, and, of course, brain surgery. I find that with memoirs an author really needs to know what their tone is going to be and stick to it. Lazio has no problems on this front. I laughed (in my head) at least every other page. (Side note: I almost never laugh out loud when I read something funny. Hear it, yes. Read, no. I’m told that makes me strange.) She consistently gives off the “aw, shucks” vibe, which is a hallmark of non-sociopathic doctors. However, I am married to a nurse so I am obligated at this point to say that nurses do all the hard work.
The narrative is a quick read, and while the stories could easily stand alone as articles, they all fit together in book form. If you want to read a fun, humorous, and sad at times story from a doctor who is a gift from God (without actually thinking she is a gift from God), then this is the book for you.
(This book was provided as a review copy by Sourcebooks.)
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