Paediatrician Mark Vonnegut has spent forty years treating children for coughs, fevers, ear infections, and sometimes more serious complaints. Whether recounting the cases that have stuck with him or detailing larger changes in medicine - the privatisation of health care, innovations in cancer treatment, the rise of anti-vaxxers and HMOs - Vonnegut is a personable guide through what is often seen as an impersonal system, and his stories sparkle with humanity, candour, and wry wisdom.