"Playing Doctor: Television, Storytelling, and Medical Power is a hit—full of information, analysis, fun, and a bit of fury." —JAMA, The Journal of the American Medical Association "Joe Turow's Playing Doctor disquiets and challenges the reader's intellect with cogent analysis of the forces that have shaped television's portrayal of doctors and the medical world. For that alone, it is a fantastic read. But Dr. Turow also pleases the mind with well written and amusing stories, interviews, and behind the scenes anecdotes that bring to life, in an eminently readable style, the fascinating world of TV medicine."
-David Foster, M.D., supervising producer, writer, and medical consultant for House "The great contribution of Turow's book, in addition to providing a highly readable and smart overview of medical shows over the years, is to examine the consequences of the gap between the reality of medical care and the often romanticized, heroic depictions on television. This would be a very good book for professors to use in teaching a range of courses in communications studies, from introductory courses to more specialized classes on health and the media."
-Susan Douglas, Catherine Neafie Kellogg Professor, Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Communications Studies Department Chair, University of Michigan