Click & Collect
from 2 Hours* Last Christmas
delivery dates Free UK Standard Delivery On all orders over £25 Order in time for Christmas 18th December by 1pm 2nd Class |
20th December by 1pm 1st Class Free Click & Collect From 2 hours after you order*
from 2 Hours* Last Christmas
delivery dates Free UK Standard Delivery On all orders over £25 Order in time for Christmas 18th December by 1pm 2nd Class |
20th December by 1pm 1st Class Free Click & Collect From 2 hours after you order*

The Ministry of Bodies (Hardback)
Seamus O'Mahony (author)
£20.00
Hardback
320 Pages
Published: 04/03/2021
Published: 04/03/2021

The author of The Way We Die Now presents a sprawling, eye-opening and frequently hilarious biography of the general hospital, from belligerent patients to self-regarding specialists.
Life and death in a modern hospital, from Seamus O'Mahony, the award-winning author of The Way We Die Now and Can Medicine Be Cured?
Seamus O'Mahony charts the realities of work in the 'ministry of bodies', that huge complex where people come to be cured and to die. From unexpected deaths to moral quandaries and bureaucratic disasters, O'Mahony documents life in the halls and wards that all of us will visit at some point in our lives with his characteristic wit and dry and unsentimental intelligence.
Absurd general emails, vain and self-promoting specialists, the relentless parade of self-destructive drinkers and drug users, the comical expectations of baffled patients: this is not a conventional medical memoir, but the collective biography of one of our great modern institutions - the general hospital - through the eyes of a brilliant writer, who happens to be a doctor.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781838931926
Number of pages: 320
Dimensions: 210 x 130 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
Sharp and pithy observations... An insight into the realities of healthcare that no journalist could hope to capture' -- Danielle Barron, Irish Times
No one writes as clearly and intelligently about modern medicine as Seamus O'Mahony -- Emily Hourican, Sunday Independent
Wonderfully funny and curmudgeonly, The Ministry of Bodies is a descent into the very bowels of modern medicine, as brilliant and candid as Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward -- Kevin Toolis
Doctors tend to be seen as saints and heroes, but that's a picture few of them recognise. Seamus O'Mahony, a medical Dostoevsky, gives a much more interesting and much funnier portrayal of a doctor's life -- Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal
The Ministry of Bodies has much of what we expect from O'Mahony - it's blunt, witty, erudite, curmudgeonly -- Melanie Reid, The Times
There's plenty of interesting strangeness * iNews *
Funny, sad, infuriating, heartening and depressing, all in almost equal measure, although the overarching theme is one of deep regret for what has been lost... There are many parts of The Ministry of Bodies that had me laughing out loud... O'Mahony has a very keen eye for the absurd. But much of it made me wince too... The moral conviction of the book is unwavering' * Irish Sunday Independent *
No one writes as clearly and intelligently about modern medicine as Seamus O'Mahony -- Emily Hourican, Sunday Independent
Wonderfully funny and curmudgeonly, The Ministry of Bodies is a descent into the very bowels of modern medicine, as brilliant and candid as Solzhenitsyn's Cancer Ward -- Kevin Toolis
Doctors tend to be seen as saints and heroes, but that's a picture few of them recognise. Seamus O'Mahony, a medical Dostoevsky, gives a much more interesting and much funnier portrayal of a doctor's life -- Richard Smith, former editor of the British Medical Journal
The Ministry of Bodies has much of what we expect from O'Mahony - it's blunt, witty, erudite, curmudgeonly -- Melanie Reid, The Times
There's plenty of interesting strangeness * iNews *
Funny, sad, infuriating, heartening and depressing, all in almost equal measure, although the overarching theme is one of deep regret for what has been lost... There are many parts of The Ministry of Bodies that had me laughing out loud... O'Mahony has a very keen eye for the absurd. But much of it made me wince too... The moral conviction of the book is unwavering' * Irish Sunday Independent *
You may also be interested in...
Please sign in to write a review
Sign In / Register
Not registered? CREATE AN ACCOUNTCREATE A plus ACCOUNT
Sign In
Download the Waterstones App
Would you like to proceed to the App store to download the Waterstones App?
Click & Collect
Reserve online, pay on collection
Thank you for your reservation
Your order is now being processed and we have sent a confirmation email to you at
When will my order be ready to collect?
Following the initial email, you will be contacted by the shop to confirm that your item is available for collection.
Call us on or send us an email at
Unfortunately there has been a problem with your order
Please try again or alternatively you can contact your chosen shop on or send us an email at