COUNTY Life, Death, and Politics at Chicago's Public Hospital

In the 1970s, Dr. David Ansell landed at Chicago’s massive, decrepit public hospital to find horrific conditions, stressed doctors, and desperate patients. He expected to stay just a few years; he lasted decades. Along the way, he tried to make a difference—and did. His memoir alternates between anecdotes and rallying cries for social justice. Nothing fazes narrator Bronson Pinchot. Whether recounting the words of an elderly woman, a feisty nurse, or a frustrated patient, his delivery is spot-on. He expresses the dignity of a dying woman and the outrage of the doctors who were fighting a corrupt, stagnant system. By the end, the listener is pulling for Ansell, with Pinchot’s voice guiding the way. M.B. © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2012]