The Unseen Body: A Doctor's Journey Through the Hidden Wonders of Human Anatomy

· Macmillan Audio · Narrated by Robert Petkoff
5.0
2 reviews
Audiobook
8 hr 21 min
Unabridged
Eligible
Want a free 15 min sample? Listen anytime, even offline. 
Add

About this audiobook

"Petkoff gives a flawless performance of this doctor/naturalist's memoir, conveying both his inquisitiveness and assuredness with aplomb." - AudioFile

"A fascinating, lyrical book... Reisman's experiences in other cultures bring a richness and depth to The Unseen Body. The way he thinks about the body and medicine—the rivers and tributaries, the flowing and unclogging, the top-down organization of the brain—is extraordinary!"
—Mary Roach


In this fascinating journey through the human body and across the globe, Dr. Reisman weaves together stories about our insides with a unique perspective on life, culture, and the natural world.


Jonathan Reisman, M.D.—a physician, adventure traveler and naturalist—brings listeners on an odyssey navigating our insides like an explorer discovering a new world with The Unseen Body. With unique insight, Reisman shows us how understanding mountain watersheds helps to diagnose heart attacks, how the body is made mostly of mucus, not water, and how urine carries within it a tale of humanity’s origins.

Through his offbeat adventures in healthcare and travel, Reisman discovers new perspectives on the body: a trip to the Alaskan Arctic reveals that fat is not the enemy, but the hero; a stint in the Himalayas uncovers the boundary where the brain ends and the mind begins; and eating a sheep’s head in Iceland offers a lesson in empathy. By relating rich experiences in far-flung lands and among unique cultures back to the body’s inner workings, he shows how our organs live inextricably intertwined lives—an internal ecosystem reflecting the natural world around us.

Reisman offers a new and deeply moving perspective, and helps us make sense of our bodies and how they work in a way listeners have never before imagined.

A Macmillan Audio production from Flatiron Books

Ratings and reviews

5.0
2 reviews

About the author

Jonathan Reisman, M.D., is a doctor of internal medicine and pediatrics who has practiced medicine in the world’s most remote places—in the Arctic and Antarctica, at high-altitude in Nepal, in Kolkata’s urban slums and among the Oglala Sioux in South Dakota. He speaks Spanish and Russian and heads a non-profit to improve healthcare and education in India. Jonathan’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, and The Washington Post. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife and children.

Rate this audiobook

Tell us what you think.

Listening information

Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can read books purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.