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by Gustav Eckstein, 799 pp, $12.50, New York, Evanston, and London, Harper & Row Publishers Inc, 1970.

Lester S. King, MD, Reviewer
American Medical Association Chicago

JAMA. 1970;211(12):2020.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Apparently many people greatly admire the writing of Gustav Eckstein. The publishers, Harper & Row, certainly do and they have sent out quite ecstatic publicity releases. They quote comments from enthusiastic prepublication readers. The editorial board of the Book-of-the-Month Club must have similar opinions, for they have chosen this as a March selection.

I wish to take a firm stand in opposition, even though I may be a minority of one. The book, I believe, is badly written, shows a low ratio of substantive content to verbiage, and is enormously boring.

Dr. Eckstein has written a book on elementary physiology intended for the layman, covering almost every phase of bodily activity. It is narrated in what I call a floating hyperbolic style, undisciplined and interminable, a sort of flamboyant free association. Here is a random example. The subject is "Deglutition" and the subtitle is "A Swallow in Three Acts."

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