Are You the F**king Doctor?: Tales from the bleeding edge of medicine Paperback – November 8, 2018

I know Liam, and was excited to read his book. Before reading it, I thought the premise was all humor. What I found was it is all HUMAN. He shares his struggles, with candid honesty, and you want to laugh as well as cry with him. It’s refreshing, it’s funny, it’s poignant and it’s reflective of the pressures we all face. I highly recommend this book. Well done, Liam!

Liam combines courage, authenticity, compassion, insight, eloquence and humor in this compendium. There is much wisdom deftly and cleverly expressed by this Irish family doctor. The stories will broadly resonate with anyone in healthcare and should be mandatory reading for medical students and doctors in training.

A great read! Very funny.

Dr. Liam Farrell, a family physician from Northern Ireland, has written a brilliant and witty book describing his life in medicine. The book is comprised of two parts. The first is a moving and harrowing description of Dr. Farrell’s struggle with morphine addiction. Comprised of one chapter, it describes his anticipation of an injection in passages that are poignant, riveting, and intensely human. The second and greater part of the book is a compilation of short columns he wrote for the British Medical Journal. Dated across the many decades of his career, they are organized into thematic chapters such as “Christmas and New Year,” “The NHS”, and “House Calls.”The BMJ articles sparkle with Dr. Farrell’s wit. Screamingly funny satire and sarcasm are dazzlingly showcased. What I found the most delightful was the sheer literacy of it: the BMJ columns are peppered throughout with clever literary allusions, often hilariously contrasted with the prosaic setting of a family practice. (For example: “A chubby chap, like Oliver Hardy (without the sense of humour), he was a firm subscriber to Dylan Thomas’s philosophy: ‘Do not go gentle into that good night/Rage, rage against the dying of the light,’ but decided to so subscribe at an inappropriately early age.”) Many of the columns affectionately mock an everyman patient “Joe,” whose hypochondriasis is equalled only by his undignified complaints involving his nether regions. Some pieces are laugh-out -loud whimsy, as in the chapter in which famous mythical figures come to his surgery. I was in stitches when Achilles, trailed by a Greek chorus, comes in with his mighty thews and an ankle injury. Others describe more true-to-life topics, such as an award-winning description of an attempt to smuggle a gunshot victim over the border during the Irish Troubles. Throughout it all, Dr. Farrell’s literary voice compels – alternately soaring, self-deprecating, scalding, and satirical.Despite its humour, something noble emerges from this book. The reader is highly amused, but also changed – we are gifted with a rare glimpse into a life spent striving to confront the challenges of front-line medicine. What emerges is a vision of a true career - a lifetime spent in committed service.My only wish for this book would be for it show even more of Dr. Farrell’s impressive range. The first chapter on his drug addiction underscored how he can explore the depths of desperate and dark subjects. As a physician, he no doubt encountered tragic cases of trauma and serious illness; perhaps because these topics do not lend themselves to the BMJ column format, they are rarely developed in that part of the book. I am looking forward to future writings from this gifted writer in which the full scope of his prodigious talent can be expressed, including treatments of more serious material. Perhaps we can look forward to a novel one day?

Beautifully written. Eye capturing. Phenomenal Book. Fantastic Lessons.The author really involves the reader in his journey, something many authors have a hard time doing. Doctor Liam Farrell isn't just an astonishing writer but a role model and asset to the medical community. Continue to inspire not just your community but your readers as well. Your experiences in the book really provide much encouragement. Continue to be a pillar of kindness and inspiration to those around you.

Outstanding! Must read!!!

Liam Farrel is a entertaining, insightful author that gets to the heart of a story using satire and wit. Totally worth picking up.

This is a mixture of brutal honesty, illuminating insights, erudite literary references, and wonderful flights of fancy, but most of all, apart from the first chapter, it is just hugely funny!It mainly is a collection of writings, culled from various publications and assembled by theme in chapters. These are preceded by the author's raw descriptions of, and reflections on, his addiction, and how he tackled it.As GPs face all aspects of life with and through their patients, it is hardly surprising that many behaviours and bodily functions are encountered in the effortlessly light-hearted telling of these tales. Like Chaucer, Farrell is not coy, but embraces these human functions and frailties to brilliant comedic effect.Since each piece (after the introductory chapter) is a self-contained tale, only two or three sides long, it's a great book to read in bed, or to dip into.To get a feel for his style, here are three of his many quotable quotes:When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow.Pain is a great motivator. Especially when it's your own. The first rule of the Dunning-Kruger club is that you don't know you're a member of the Dunning-Kruger club.It's a perfect present for any doctor, especially if they're a GP, and I'm sure most other readers would find it not only accessible, but addictive!

Loved everything about this mix of satire, wisdom, and unvarnished truths about the human condition, delivered by a man I would be more than happy to have as my GP.

The vocabulary used is quite demanding. It can be very entertaining and even satisfying to learn many new words, but I was looking for something more relaxing, something you can read without having to concentrate too much and in this case I have to read it with a significant level of concentration. Lexicon and references to events/products are difficult to grasp for a non-native speaker. Nevertheless, I take my hat out for the writer: seen from another point of view, the language is very attractive (learned many new words) and the writing style is worthy of praise (in the first few pages you get struck by the most amazing description of an addiction).

Hilariously funny story of a country GP in rural Ireland. Gives a good insight as to what it's really like on the other side of the desk. Do all his patients desperately need and demand antibiotics? The mind boggles!!. Anyway highly recommended and enjoyable read.