The Open Heart Club

A Story about Birth and Death and Cardiac Surgery

By: Gabriel Brownstein

Narrated by: Gabriel Brownstein

This absorbing and poignant book is not merely the story of one writer's flawed heart. It is a history of cardiac medicine, a candid personal journey, and a profound reflection on mortality.
Born in 1966 with a congenital heart defect known as the tetralogy of Fallot, Gabriel Brownstein entered the world just as doctors were learning to operate on conditions like his. He received a life-saving surgery at five years old, and since then has ridden wave after wave of medical innovation, a series of interventions that have kept his heart beating.
The Open Heart Club is both a memoir of a life on the edge of medicine's reach and a history of the remarkable people who have made such a life possible. It begins with the visionary anatomists of the seventeenth century, tells the stories of the doctors (all women) who invented pediatric cardiology, and includes the lives of patients and physicians struggling to understand the complexities of the human heart. The Open Heart Club is a riveting work of compassionate storytelling, a journey into the dark hinterlands between sickness and health lit by bright moments of humor and inspiration.

Best book on CHD

I bought this audiobook when our unborn baby was diagnosed with a CHD. I bought three books, one from the parent's perspective, the patient's perspective and the surgeon's perspective. Of the three books I listened to, this was the best researched, performed, and most insightful for me. Our baby is due in two weeks, we have been told by three doctors our baby has almost no chance to survive but I feel hopeful and informed thanks to this book. I really want to thank the author for writing this. It has meant so much to me to hear an adult CHD survivor talk about his experiences and summarize the history of CHD research and intervention.

Moving and informative

The author actually does a nice job reading his own book, unlike many. The memoir is moving, the history eye-opening. The author repeatedly tells us about exasperatingly bad decisions he made, but also explains how a kind of informed denial is an effective strategy for a person in his or an analogous situation, living on borrowed time - which, in the end, is all of us.

A book worth reading

This book is beautifully written and well read. The author brings one fully into his world - I felt I was experiencing the essence of his experience. Further, the information about the science of cardiology is not only fascinating, but is enriching and will be important to other patients and those who are concerned about them.
The one misstep, in my opinion, was the unnecessary side focus on things of a sexual nature. I feel the book would have been stronger without that, and that is the only thing preventing me from giving the book five stars.
That said, I thank the author for his candidness and for using his considerable talent to make his experience one that others can share without leaving their own. I am changed - I am better - for having read this book. Thank you!

I was seen

I know first hand stories that he shares and fears that I have for the uncertain future. Born 1985, TOF as well! Great insight. Great history segments. Kept interest throughout! And easy to listen to his voice narrate. Plan to also purchase hard copy and reread.