This book is by a South African surgeon, Dr. Gideon Naude, now practicing in the USA. The book's charm lies in its straight-forward, humble, often controversial and thought provoking insights into a range of subjects as diverse as the thorny issue of immigration in the USA, global warming, hunting, free love and happiness, to war, gun control, lawyers and liars, and seemingly everything in between. Observations takes the form of conversations with people- mainly his children Gideon Jnr. and Nicole, and two fictitious characters, liberal Sarah and right wing Jack, loosely patterned on some of the children's friends. He includes an African philosopher, in his words, "to indicate that a basic truth does not change whether you are in a Manhattan penthouse in New York or in a mud hut in rural Africa." This platform creates a rich stage for covering a range of viewpoints, which fairly dance with color and breathe life into his observations. It covers the personal and professional journey that led him to America at age 45. Two decades later, Dr. Naude now sees America through the eyes of a US citizen, but forever influenced by his experiences in South Africa as well as the United Kingdom. It depicts an America as the great country it has always been, but does not shy away from observing the challenges and dramatic changes that are gradually altering its socio-political landscape. Liberally sprinkled with wry humor, "Observations" includes many everyday professional and personal experiences that will alternately inspire a chuckle, a feeling of recognition, a sigh of compassion or a head-shake of disbelief. It is described by its publishers, Amazon, as a "captivating" book. About the author: Naude is a South African born physician and surgeon. Along with his vast experience in South Africa, he has also been trained in Great Britain and the United States. Naude has the medical degree MBChB, equivalent to the American MD. He is also a fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of both Edinburgh and Glasgow, the equivalent of board certification in surgery in the United States. He is also a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. A prolific academic writer, with multiple journal articles in some of the world's leading journals. He is an author and first editor of 'Trauma Secrets' (now in the second edition in English and Spanish, also published in Portuguese and Chinese). He is a co-author of Current Critical Care, Diagnosis and Treatment, Surgery, a Clinical Approach, this is Naude's first foray into non-clinical writing."