Five Days at Memorial

Life and Death in a Storm-Ravaged Hospital

By: Sheri Fink

Narrated by: Kirsten Potter

Length: 17 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The award-winning book that inspired an Apple Original series from Apple TV+ • A landmark investigation of patient deaths at a New Orleans hospital ravaged by Hurricane Katrina—and the suspenseful portrayal of the quest for truth and justice—from a Pulitzer Prize–winning physician and reporter

“An amazing tale, as inexorable as a Greek tragedy and as gripping as a whodunit.”—Dallas Morning News

After Hurricane Katrina struck and power failed, amid rising floodwaters and heat, exhausted staff at Memorial Medical Center designated certain patients last for rescue. Months later, a doctor and two nurses were arrested and accused of injecting some of those patients with life-ending drugs.

Five Days at Memorial, the culmination of six years of reporting by Pulitzer Prize winner Sheri Fink, unspools the mystery, bringing us inside a hospital fighting for its life and into the most charged questions in health care: which patients should be prioritized, and can health care professionals ever be excused for hastening death?

Transforming our understanding of human nature in crisis, Five Days at Memorial exposes the hidden dilemmas of end-of-life care and reveals how ill-prepared we are for large-scale disasters—and how we can do better.

ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Tribune, Seattle Times, Entertainment Weekly, Christian Science Monitor, Kansas City Star

WINNER: National Book Critics Circle Award, J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award, Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Ridenhour Book Prize, American Medical Writers Association Medical Book Award, National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Award

©2013 Sheri Fink (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

2014, Carnegie Medal, Short-listed

2013, Los Angeles Times Book Prizes—Current Interest—Winner

2014, National Book Critics Circle Awards, Winner

2015, PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction, Winner

2014, Ron Ridenhour Book Award, Winner

“The journalist and doctor Sheri Fink published a meticulous investigation of these deaths in the New York Times Magazine and on the Web site of ProPublica, in 2009. Her work won a Pulitzer Prize. And now comes the book. In Five Days at Memorial, the contours of the story remain the same, yet Fink imbues them with far more narrative richness, making the doctors seem both more sympathetic and more culpable. Fink also expands on the ethical conundrums, which have festered over time and seem to gain fresh urgency.” (The New Yorker)

"“That so many people, starkly divided over the question of whether crimes had been committed, come off as decent and appealing makes this book an absorbing read. Dr. Fink brings a shimmering intelligence to its many narrative cul-de-sacs, which consider medical, legal and ethical issues. . . . By reporting the depth of those gruesome hours in Memorial before the helicopters came, and giving weight to medical ethics as grounded in the law, Sheri Fink has written an unforgettable story. Five Days at Memorial is social reporting of the first rank.” (Jason Berry, The New York Times)

Eye Opener

What did you love best about Five Days at Memorial?

The book was an amazing true story

What did you like best about this story?

The stories of each of the doctors and nureses

Which scene was your favorite?

Getting people out of the hospital

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

That there is a 2 pronged syetem of doctors proscribing medication and nurses administiring it

Any additional comments?

Great read and narrarator

Five Days at Memorial

The 1st part of the book was excellent. Very interesting about the time spent in the hospital. The 2nd part was unexpected but gave quite a summary of the background on relevant cases and other items key to the story. The narrator was very well spoken and easy to listen to although she did have trouble with some of the local last names.

I would say that it was time well spent listening to the book.

Would have enjoyed more if author read it

What did you love best about Five Days at Memorial?

It evoked a very important conversation about creative thinking especially in a crisis and how we look at suffering. It shows you the consequences of relying on others in a crisis versus taking matters into your own hands.

a good book looking at a challenging topic.

It's easy to say what you'd do, when you're not there, but there must be an accounting.

Loved this story

As a medical student, I really enjoyed the in depth discussion of the circumstances the doctors went through. The investigative journalism for the story seemed exceptionally thorough. I enjoyed the discussion of broader medical ethics and disaster preparedness. A very good read, and exciting story for those not in the medical profession as well.

Too detailed, not journalism

I’m not sure why this is surprising, but this isn’t journalism. The Author has an agenda that is glaringly apparent throughout. I appreciate disciplined and rigorous research that explores both sides of an issue so that the reader can decide. I just don’t like being told what to think.

That being said, the details were over the top, a more concise telling of this story would have been more appealing and impactful.

Great telling of this event.

From my perspective I believe the author did an excellent job of trying to be non-bias about the events that occurred. Gave very good first hand accounts of what many in the hospital faced. In the end only future events will determine whether anything was learned or not by medical professionals.

A tough read

Long and hard to get through all the investigational material. Not for the faint of heart, but thought-provoking and troubling on many levels. Good background for COVID-19 pandemic.

Good, not great

An important and fascinating listen, but long winded and the mispronunciations were distracting. Also hard to read in the aftermath of a pandemic.

Nothing specific

The story got a little bit long in a couple of places in the middle and toward the end, and for the last three or four hours of the book I had to force myself to continue listening so I could say I finished the book as opposed to listening because I was really enjoying it.