so many bad things to say about this book... yes it was interesting, yes the life of freeman is fascinating. is it fun to try and get into his head, imagine his reasoning? yes. is it acceptable to go so far in "getting in his head" that you excuse his actions and border on idolizing him as an idealistic hero? i can't get behind it.

el-hai omitted so many details from freeman's life in order to cherry pick stories that showed him as a progressive go-getter rather than a non-licensed man performing assembly-line surgeries with an ice pick. i cannot express enough how much i dislike freeman, and the fact that el-hai didn't provide an objective view of the horrific medical damage he did baffled me.