Best of Bryson City

By: Dr. Walt Larimore

Narrated by: Dr. Walt Larimore

Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's Summary

Walt Larimore was a young "flatlander" physician with a wife and three-year-old daughter when he set up his first practice in the little mountain hamlet of Bryson City, North Carolina. Schooled in the latest medical technology, the eager doctor discovered that there were some things in rural practice for which medical school just hadn't prepared him. He found his patients were often his best teachers, and his classroom ranged from hospital corridors and smelly barns to homey kitchens and mountain streams.

In Best of Bryson City, Dr. Larimore reads selections from his two collections of stories about the place that forever shaped not only his medical practice, but also his practice of life and faith. He sweeps readers into a world of colorful characters and the warmth, humor, quirks, and struggles of a small country town.

©2004 Walt Larimore (P)2004 The Zondervan Corporation

great family book!!

This was a great wholesome book that would be good for the whole family to listen to together on a trip. Made me laugh out loud often.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

A piece of the NC mountains

Anyone who thinks this story sounds like fiction has never spent years in the mountains of NC. Such a slice of life! I enjoyed the stories from the midwives to the fishermen; from the realities of hospital politics to the pain of having a disabled child.

The small-town stories are almost too familiar! As a tubing enthusiast who loves Deep Creek it sounds like home!

The story is heavy on faith, just as life in NC *is* - yes, doctors here STILL offer to pray with you. Not politically correct in some parts of the country, as many expect certain professionals to exist separate from their faith. I have to tell you Dr Larimore is never condeming of those of another faith, simply expressing the joy he has found in his own - that is refreshing! A REALISTIC and joyful slice of life.

I have already searched to see if his complete collection is on Audible and will download it whenever it becomes available.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Not too bad, but....

Having knowledge of the area and people, this was a fairly accurate description of both. However, the narration is pretty cloying and self-promoting - to the point of distraction. I tried listening to this in car with family. They preferred country music.

Of more value to physicians and anthropologists interested in Western Carolina/Easter Tennessee ways of life. These are likely to dissappear over the next few decades as Boomer retirees move in.

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Inspiring

I found this book inspiring... Dr. Larimore has the ability to look at the toughest situation, even one where he looks like the "fool," and take that situation as a learning experience. He wears his faith on his sleeve, but I would rather have my doctor praying with me then acting as "god!"

Dr. Larimore does a great job of reading his own work... one of the best I've heard by an author!

2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Enjoyable tale told well. <br />

Enjoyed this on a long car ride. it made it go quickly. Story is one that makes you laugh, then cry, then laugh again. Leaves you laughing about the description of the Miss Flame contest!

Fans of medical series

"Walt" reads his book well with a comforting friendly voice but I did not love his story. Not bad stories but I felt the book would have been better if the residents of Bryson City were used as the spring board for a fictional work. As it is we do not get to know anyone except "Walt" very well and have only a brush with the residents of Bryson City.

1 of 2 people found this review helpful

A religious message

This syrupy series of goody-goody stories is a Christian sermon that smells more like fiction than non-fiction, and was a great disappointment to me. Indeed, I felt it was mis-labeled as true stories of a medical doctor and should have been promoted as sermons of a Christian evangelist.

2 of 10 people found this review helpful