Health and Happiness Author:Diane Johnson With uncommon wit, poignant humor, and a cast of brilliantly realized characters, best-selling author Diane Johnson takes us into the wards of a West Coast hospital - in a compelling comedy of morals, mortality, and modern medicine. — Ivy Tarro, single mother and maitre d' at a chic San Francisco restaurant, has just been admitted to Alta Buena H... more »ospital with a seemingly minor problem. To her great surprise, she is detained and hospitalized - her life suddenly, mysteriously, at risk.
A near-fatal misdiagnosis, overmedication, and blatant neglect are just a few of the injustices Ivy endures as she is caught up in a dizzying swirl of BMW-driving specialists, rabidly holistic interns, backstabbing administrators, and smug head nurses who monitor illicit affairs along with vital signs. A novel that even has room for romance - as Ivy's attending physician falls in love with her - here is one woman's harrowing and hilarious journey through America's perilous health-care system amidst our never ending quest for health and happiness.« less