Book Review #3. I Bet No One Has Ever Told The People At Q-Fever They Are The Onion Of Medicine.

I'm kidding. The phrase "The Onion of Medicine"  is the obvious one that comes to mind upon seeing Q Fever!: Medical Humor & Satire For Healthcare Professionals. I'm sure it's been said a lot. That's really not fair to Q Fever! though, because comparing something to The Onion is a sure fire way to make something look inferior. The Onion is the funniest fucking entity on God's green earth, and anything that goes up against it will be crushed.

So I totally won't say anything like Q Fever! Is like The Onion of medicine. Even though it's a book full of fake news stories. Kinda like The Onion. Except about medicine.  

And I won't point out that just like in The Onion's early days, sometimes the entire joke of a Q Fever story is contained in the headline, "Study: Obesity a Risk Factor for Pants Ripping in the Ass." Chuckle chuckle. Really no need to read the rest of the page though, you get the joke. There are more than a few shoot scotch through the nose moments however, such as when my sinuses got the alcohol rinse treatment upon seeing "Heart Transplantation Study Halted Abruptly; Transplant of placebo 'a disaster' researchers concede."

There are also parts that aren't like The Onion. There are top 10 lists, which are more like a rip off of David Letterman. I don't mind that though, as I kinda wish Dave himself would rip himself off from 20 years ago more. And the lists are kinda funny. Five of the "Top 10 Ways To Quit Smoking:"

-Cold Turkey

-Nicotine Patch

-Smoking Cessation Classes

-End-Stage Emphysema/COPD

-Widely Metastatic Lung Cancer

There are also case studies that invariably end in bad puns or photoshop gags, which you won't find in The Onion. Which means you could maybe kinda make a case for Q Fever! not being The Onion of medicine. Even though it kinda is. 

Or I should say was. The book is a collection of highlights from the Q-Fever! website, which is kinda like The Onion's, except geared towards medicine, and work on the website seems to have abruptly halted in 2005. There's some good stuff there though, and I would totally recommend you check it out. And if you're the type, like me, that keeps a little reading material around at work so you don't have to look at customers when not actively filling prescriptions, then the Q-Fever book should be right up your alley. 

Just like The Onion. 

Special Thanks to The Alert Reader who sent a copy of the book my way.