- Hardcover
- Used
Seller: World of Books Inc, Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.World of Books Inc
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
Condition: Used - Good
£ 4.29
Quantity: 1 available
Add to basketItem description from seller
The past comes rearing up to bite the next generation when a son digs too deep into his family's past. Martin Firestone can't figure why his father, the eccentric painter Leo Firestone, is throwing a fit. All Martin did was tell his dad he'd been accepted to medical school. Then, Leo tells Martin a story about his own father, Dr. Samuel Firestone, an extraordinarily gifted doctor and a living legend in the small city of Hobart, NJ, but a man with a serious character flaw. During the summer of 1943, while Leo worked as Samuel's extern, he witnessed some highly questionable behavior. Illegal abortions, supplying heroin to an addict, black-market pharmaceuticals, babies sold to adoptive parents - all in a day's work for Samuel Firestone, M.D. When Leo decided his father was covering up a murder, he and his girlfriend, stage-struck Harmony, followed a trail of clues into the Fleischmann Scrapyard. There, they ran afoul of old Oscar Fleischmann, Samuel's longtime nemesis. By the time Leo realized he and Harmony were in far over their sixteen-year-old heads, it was too late to call off the investigation. But there are loose threads in Leo's story. Martin picks them up, and sixty years after the fact, goes snooping in Hobart. And like his father, he comes away with a whole lot more junk than he'd bargained for.…
Seller Inventory # CIN159058130XG
- Title
- First, Do No Harm
- Author
- Larry Karp
- Publisher
- Poisoned Pen Press
- Publication year
- 2004
- Condition
- Good
- Binding
- Hardback
- Language
- English
- ISBN 10
- 159058130X
- ISBN 13
- 9781590581308
"Synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Review
Set in flashback during the World War II years, ""First, Do No Harm"" is a story of family secrets stumbled upon by young Martin Firestone, a computer
whiz who is ready to change careers. Surprisingly, Martin's decision to enter medical school (as his grandfather did) has just been greeted with
violent disapproval from his father, the eminent painter Leo Firestone. Most parents would be pleased; why is Leo so upset?
What follows is a lengthy father-to-son late-night confessional, as Leo knocks back several Manhattans and launches his narrative. Martin and the reader go back in time to the summer of 1943, when the 16-year-old Leo was taken on as a medical apprentice (an ""extern"") by his busy physician father, Dr. Samuel Firestone. A legend in his New Jersey community, Dr. Firestone whisks Leo from patient to patient, demonstrating an almost preternatural
skill at diagnosis, treatment and human relations.
Young Leo discovers firsthand how admirable, and how beloved, his father is - but he also uncovers an ethical quagmire: His father is involved in illegal abortions and adoptions, dispensing narcotics and black-market drugs, perhaps even a coverup for a murder. Deeply troubled, the 16-year-old and his girlfriend investigate some of these issues, ending up in the junkyard of thefoul-mouthed, malicious Oscar Fleishmann. Oscar, one of the most repellent characters in contemporary fiction, turns out to be
trafficking in black-market scrap metal (these were the war years, remember), and Leo ends up in a heap of trouble.
There's more, considerably more, to this saga, some of it unearthed by Leo's son Martin (who senses some gaps in his father's narrative). It's all written at a white-hot emotional pitch with an author whose medical expertise and ear for dialogue are both unerring. ""First, Do No Harm"" grabs the reader in a rigor-mortis grip that doesn't let up until the last page's final revelations. -- Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times
"About the title" may belong to another edition of this title.
World of Books Inc
Montgomery, IL, U.S.A.
AbeBooks seller since March 23, 2026
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| Item | 4 to 12 business days | 3 to 6 business days |
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| First item | £ 0.00 | £ 8.28 |
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Founded in 2002, World of Books is a leading online destination for buying and selling both preloved and new books, committed to making sustainable reading accessible to all. With a mission to help people read more and waste less, World of Books offers a huge range of affordable, high-quality books — giving both new and preloved titles a second life. The company also operates World of Books – Sell Your Books, an easy-to-use platform that allows customers to trade in unwanted books for cash, helping to keep books in circulation while promoting sustainability. As a Certified B Corp, World of Books is driven by a vision to become the world’s largest and most sustainable dedicated online bookstore. The company measures its success through the positive environmental impact it creates, the value it provides to customers, and its ability to operate profitably while supporting its sustainable mission …
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Second Hand - All GenreSeller's business information
SBYB, Inc.
900 Knell Road
Montgomery, IL U.S.A. 60538
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