With poignant insight and humor, When the Air Hits Your Brain chronicles one man's evolution from naive and ambitious young intern to world-class neurosurgeon. In electrifying detail, Frank Vertosick Jr. describes some of the greatest challenges of his career, including a six-week-old infant with a tumor in her brain, a young man struck down in his prime by paraplegia, and a minister with a .22-caliber bullet lodged in his skull. Told through intimate portraits of Vertosick's patients and unsparing yet fascinatingly detailed descriptions of surgical procedures, When the Air Hits Your Brain'the culmination of decades spent struggling to learn an unforgiving craft'illuminates both the mysteries of the mind and the realities of the operating room.

The rules of the game -- Slackers, keeners, and wild cards -- Thanks for everything -- A night in the street, a night in the chair -- The museum of pain -- Ailments untreatable -- Surgical psychopaths -- If it was easy, everyone would do it -- A bit of hard cheese -- Rebecca -- Nightmares, past and future -- The wheel of life -- Belonging.