Maximum Insecurity

A Doctor in the Supermax

By: William Wright M.D.

Narrated by: Eric Martin

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Publisher's summary

After three decades as a successful ear surgeon, William Wright, MD is bored beyond belief. He dabbles with retirement, but finds idleness infuriating. He has to do something. Then he sees an ad for a doctor’s position from the Colorado Department of Corrections at a supermax prison. Now that, he thinks, would be different. His wife has some thoughts on the matter too. She thinks her husband just lost his mind and is on a collision course with a prison shiv.

After his first day on the job, he wonders if she wasn’t onto something. His first patient is an arrogant, callous youth convicted of five cold-blooded murders. Dr. Wright has to steel himself not to bolt.

Nothing prepares a doctor for life at the Colorado State Penitentiary. He quickly discovers treating maximum security convicts is like treating recalcitrant murderous four-year-olds. Always willing to threaten their doctors with bodily harm, they are more interested in scamming drugs than treatment.

Told with self-depreciating humor and scathing wit, Maximum Insecurity describes Dr. Wright’s adventures practicing medicine in a supermax correctional facility without, he’s glad to say, getting killed even once.

©2013 William Wright, M.D. (P)2014 William Wright, M.D.

Narration makes it even better

Entertaining book with sarcastic humour. There's a couple workplace grievances that we can all relate to in some way. There's a chapter dedicated to his disdain for pharmacists because of the role they play in his job. I am a pharmacist and still find it funny, especially with his sarcastic overtones. I'm sure there's plenty of things you could look for to be offended by in the book. PC Principal might need to skip this one.

Narrator is phenomenal, really nails the performance and allows the humour to come out. 10/10.

Bureaucracy with a dose of medicine

The story is a tale of dealing with both a population of felons and more so, the never-ending goliath of governmental administrative decisions. The author does come across as a bit jaded and arrogant at times. However, I think it's often warranted considering his years of experience as a physician combined with being constantly undermined and questioned by prevaricating prisoners and government pencil-pushers. The narrator does an ok job, he often has a tough guy tone to his voice that is a bit annoying. If you're interested in or already are practicing medicine, this is a worthwhile listen.

Great book!

What a great book! Dr. Wright is funny, he shares his interesting experience working within the prison as an MD. A paramedic, he and I alike have had similar experiences working in Correctional Medicine.

Brilliant....

Loved the snarky, sarcastic wit. Don Rickles meets Marcus Welby. The audible book was 1st class entertainment.

Risky but essential work.

Would you consider the audio edition of Maximum Insecurity to be better than the print version?

Possibly. I didn't read the print version. The audio version is excellent, with terrific narration by Eric Martin.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Since this is about real people and not literary characters, I won't be picking any favorites.

Which scene was your favorite?

Not a scene-based work, either. Dr. Wright tells plenty of fascinating, sometimes disturbing stories, but they are not scenes.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Medicine in the Supermax

Any additional comments?

Prison life manages to simultaneously attract our interest and repel our sympathies. Dr. Wright dove in to that system and learned quickly--both learning and speed of learning were essential--how to handle his daily roster of dangerous, manipulative patients. He shares with the reader/listener a wide variety of his experiences with the criminal clientele and with the prison staff and administration. Dr. Wright is an open, honest author with a dry sense of humor. He understands the crafty nature of most of the prisoners and avoids playing co-dependent to their various deficiencies. But Dr. Wright also has compassion for these people, and strives to help them whenever possible. I enjoyed this book so much that I snapped up its sequel, Jailhouse Doc. Serving as a jail doc turned out to be quite a different experience for Dr. Wright. I highly recommend both books.

Incredibly interesting and entertaining!

I definitely enjoyed listening to this book though not right away. It took awhile to get into it. And the deeper it went the more the author's sense of humor came out, demeaning as it was at times. In the end he clarified himself and his commitment to giving the best care to the inmates. However, some people might be offended the way he referred to the inmates in a less than intelligent manner. I could understand why in the stories he told but still, some might be offended.

Funny, entertaining and witty!

What did you love best about Maximum Insecurity?

Very funny!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Maximum Insecurity?

The doctor's personality is just so much fun!

What about Eric Martin’s performance did you like?

Gave perfect tone to the jokes and did great voice impersonations

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I laughed out loud in my kitchen while doing the cooking and the dishes, the kids and the neighbors probably thought I was nuts lol

Well written informative and even funny!

Well done!! This book has it all! I listened to the audio after reading the book!
Well done Dr. Wright. Well done!

6 Stars if I could!!

Dr. Wright is a completely likable person, and he is noticeably talented. His journey into the correctional system is very honest and enlightening, and his book is superbly written. He initially goes into the supermax prison with a worry for his life, but after the first day, he realizes that the majority of inmates are basically a bunch of whiny babies. The book is really interesting, and his interactions with the various inmates are really comical, but he also speaks quite seriously about his observations on the flaws of the correctional system.

Eric Martin’s narration is absolutely perfect. It feels like Dr. Wright is in the room with you telling his stories, and he makes all the different inmates come to life. He truly has a talent for narration! I can’t even imagine myself ever reading a physical copy of this book because his performance is altogether outstanding.

There are few chapters in this book that make me laugh out loud every single time, and I often return to this title when I am between audiobooks. I highly recommend Maximum Insecurity! If the summary of this book has peaked your interest you should definitely pick it up!

Cynical and Dry

Listening to this book was like a long hike up hill with a large pack strapped to the back. The narrator is not to blame here any more than the hill is to blame.

The author seemed at times to be burned out, bitter, and callous. At other times, he seemed to have a dry sense of humor and a compassionate heart.

There is a compelling story here, but it is often marred by jarring judgements about offenders, administrators, and institutions.

I stopped this book about 2 hours in and debated about returning it for a few days. It finally hooked me once I decided to view the authors seeming rough handling of some topics as attempts at dry humor.