Weisman, Jamie 1965-

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Weisman, Jamie 1965-

PERSONAL:

Born 1965; daughter of Evan (a cardiologist) and Nancy (a psychologist) Weisman; married to Victor Balaban (a photographer and psychologist); children: two daughters. Education: Earned degree from Brown University; Emory University School of Medicine, M.D., 1998. Religion: Jewish.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Atlanta, GA.

CAREER:

Physician in Atlanta, GA. Previously worked for a publisher in New York, NY.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Two-time winner of the Atlanta Medical Society essay contest.

WRITINGS:

As I Live and Breathe: Notes of a Patient-Doctor, North Point Press (New York, NY), 2002.

Has published fiction in national literary magazines.

SIDELIGHTS:

Jamie Weisman is a physician. Eventually earning her medical degree from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia, Weisman found inspiration to become a doctor from her own illness. She suffers from a rare congenital immune deficiency and, in her twenties, experienced extreme disfiguration of her face from continued infections of her parotid gland. Weisman turned her suffering and struggle into a memoir, As I Live and Breathe: Notes of a Patient-Doctor, in 2002.

Kim Lightfoot wrote that the book "is worth reading" in a Curled Up with a Good Book Web site review. Lightfoot also commented that "Weisman's memoir truly inspires reevaluation of one's life, and the things that many consider to be problems. I know that I began to be very thankful for my health after reading this book." Claire Zukley, writing on the PopMatters Web site, noted that Weisman can "touchingly glorify the beauty of human life as she marvels at the magic of the senses," adding that her language and writing style is "flowery at times." Zukley concluded that "Weisman has created a poignant, compelling memoir, not only with the delicate balance between the patient and doctor, but that between sickness and health. It is clear that her enthusiasm for life has influenced her enthusiasm for writing and medicine. The reader of As I Live and Breathe will likely finish the book with a newfound appreciation for illness, medicine, and life in general." Barbara J. Martin, writing on the Medscape General Medicine Web site, noted that Weisman does not include any information on how her rare illness was discovered and diagnosed. Martin observed: "Another conspicuous omission is a thoughtful self-analysis by Weisman, formerly a writer, on choosing the vocation of medicine." Martin commented that "while Weisman may fail to reveal a broader picture of her character's complexity, she writes vividly of her bodily anguish." Although Weisman detailed her suffering, Martin remarked that "Weisman could have used these intense experiences to show how the extreme pain of illness can transform adult composure into juvenile defeatism, and how this awareness informs the care she delivers to her own extremely ill patients. As it stands, this is merely adolescent writing, constructed with an apparent zeal to impress that undermines whatever connection the reader is willing to make with the author." Martin said that "Weisman prevails when focusing exclusively on her patients," but lamented that "unfortunately, such acute portraits are too infrequent in Weisman's As I Live and Breathe to redeem it."

In a BookLoons Web site review, Hilary Williamson thought that Weisman wrote the memoir from a "unique perspective." Williamson proposed that readers of the account "will spend time with someone who is herself a heroine, and who affirms the joy of life, however long or short it may be." Calling the book "a valuable perspective on the healing profession," a contributor to Kirkus Reviews discussed the various notes on life and living that Weisman ties together in a critical review. "Compelling yet sketchy," the contributor remarked that "these ‘notes’ on the precious frailty of existence will leave readers wishing they had been fleshed out." James Swanton, writing in Library Journal, found that Weisman writes "courageously." Swanton felt that the memoir is "very exciting," noting that it "ranks with the best of the genre" of doctor-cumpatient books. A contributor to Publishers Weekly commented that Weisman "is particularly good at conveying the powerlessness of the medical profession over the unpredictability of illness." Booklist contributor William Beatty called As I Live and Breathe a "remarkable book."