Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas
Published October 17th 2019 by Picador, Hardcover 144 pages
An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.
Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas is the hilarious, poignant and entertaining story of the life of a junior doctor at the most challenging time of the year. With twenty-five tales of intriguing, shocking and incredible Christmas incidents, the British public will finally appreciate the sacrifices made and the challenges faced by the unsung heroes of the NHS.
Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas will be fully illustrated (as tastefully as possible) and will delight all of Adam’s fans throughout the festive period of Christmas 2019 and for many years to come.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
It didn't live up to it's initial promise by never developing. It remained a selection of anecdotes taken from the Christmas shift every year from 2004 (afair) to the present. Occasionally it is laugh-out-loud funny or a broad smile, as in: "Full marks to the anaesthetist wearing a badge that says, "He sees you when you are sleeping, he knows when you are awake," but mostly it's just mildly amusing. Or not.
It doesn't compare to the clever, percipient This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor, not a book in the same league. It feels like a cobbled together piece to capture a bit of the David Sedaris market: short, funny book told by a self-deprecating author and good for a Christmas present. The author is a nice guy, buy it for your bathroom-book lover friends.
Rating: really liked it
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“Would you believe there’s a medical term specifically and exclusively for a mass of undigested sharon fruit in an intestine? No wonder medical school takes so long, learning all this shit.”
Actual Rating: 3.5 stars★ I read the author’s debut while I was studying for my final tests in med school and now I read this while I am officially a doctor! I received the license test results on the same day I received this book so that was definitely a sign!
★ I started and finished this book in one sitting in under 2 hours! I like it and it gave me a couple of laughs! Some of the entries were funny and some just made my mind go (… and?) I think this is highly subjective so my opinion does not really reflect how funny it was.
★ The book was short and I wish it was a bit longer, but after all, it is the doctor’s entries from real life and it is restricted to the Christmas shifts so I understand the number of pages!
★ I like that the author still has a message to deliver despite all the humor! This was less serious than book 1 and it has less Gynecology ward entries but I liked the ending and I guess it is kind of true. As the author says, thanks to all the doctors and nurses and medical staff working day and night and sacrificing their social life to keep the rest of the people healthy! Who knows, maybe in few years, I will publish my own medical diaries!
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Rating: really liked it
I listened to this audio narrated by the author, Adam Kay, a relatively short listen at 2 hours and 20 minutes, painting a picture of the hardworking NHS staff over the crazy and manic festive season. Kay mines his experience of the numerous Christmas periods in his years as a doctor, the horrors and joys, with a particular focus on his specialism of obstetrics and gynaecology. So we have birth of babies, the lottery associated with IVF treatments, and the oh so human sorrows associated with the failures of IVF. There is so much unbelievable material with the insanity of people and what they get up to as they present themselves in hospitals at Christmas, and something I just could not believe, families 'dumping' their confused grannies at A&E for the festive season! I had to take several moments to take in just how low people can go when it comes to their family members. As usual, Kay relates all this with humour, making this a fun and entertaining listen, whilst highlighting just how incredible our much put upon NHS is.
Rating: really liked it
Quite simply hilarious.
Rating: really liked it
The only complaint I have about this book is that it wasn’t long enough! I love Adam Kay’s writing and I love reading about his time as a doctor. I felt every emotion whilst reading this book - and I loved it! It was hilarious but also heartbreaking at times. It also makes me angry for the way NHS staff are treated, and it really shows what amazing people they are. I really wish that this book was longer as I was really enjoying reading it. It took me only 2 hours! I recommend this one to everyone - it’s a very interesting read. I’m hoping that there’s more to come from Adam Kay!
Rating: really liked it
“Full marks to the anaesthetist wearing a badge that says, “He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake.””
Having listened to the audiobook for Kay’s amazing account of life as a junior doctor, This Is Going To Hurt, earlier in the year, I was very much excited to read this little festive book in the run-up to Christmas.
Kay is simply hilarious. He perfectly combines his sense of humour with his compassionate side as he recounts the different Christmasses he has spent working in hospitals. Some entries are heartbreaking and incredibly sad, whereas others lighten the tone and had me in stitches of laughter! Who knew people stuck so many strange things in their orifices?! And there’s cute little hospital-themed festive illustrations dotted throughout, which I loved.
My only complaint is that it’s SO short. I understand Kay would be quite limited in terms of how many Christmas-related stories he has to tell, but it’s so easy to race through in about 2 hours. And it just left me wanting more.
Overall, this really reinforces how much we should appreciate the NHS and the staff who work their asses off every single day, not just at Christmas (my mum included). I love how passionate Kay is on this topic!
This would be a great stocking filler for those who work within healthcare - or just anyone who likes to laugh really! Absolutely hilarious yet poignant.
Trigger warnings for miscarriage, abortion. 4 stars.
Rating: really liked it
Following up from the brilliant This is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor with this festive treat, Kay helps explain the exact day to day life of the healthcare profession and the pitfalls of working over the Christmas period.
Just like the previous book, their were plenty of squeamish and odd antidotes explained in a brilliant humours way.
But more importantly it yet again highlights the amazing jobs those working in our NHS do and such never be taken for granted.
Rating: really liked it
For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...
You know when a music artist has a really successful album and the producers decide it is a great idea to re-release it at Christmas time, except with a few extra tracks added in? And, being a massive fan, you feel obliged to purchase it because you like the artist’s music and you have that small doubt that maybe, just maybe, it won’t appear on the next full album? Well, this is the same thing, just in literary format. You feel like you should read it after the hilarity of This Has Got to Hurt yet, in reality, Kay should not have bothered at all.
For my full review, visit me at https://mrsbrownsbooks.wordpress.com/...
Rating: really liked it
A festive diary style look into working in the NHS, this has all the wit, heart and humour of Adam’s previous book, This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor with added tinsel and fairy lights. As before, some of the entries are hard hitting and difficult to read about, mixed with some other, more light hearted entries, that had me laughing out loud. I can see a lot of myself and my colleagues in Adam’s writing style, with an almost stoic approach to life with certain patients and situations that stay with you forever. There were many, many anecdotes and scenarios I’ve seen firsthand myself, and I could relate a lot to Adam’s thoughts and feelings on the NHS and working over the Christmas period.
Moral of the book? People are weird. Especially at Christmas.
Rating: really liked it
Re-read Dec 2020 - Still love this!
I was super excited to pick this up as I absolutely loved its predecessor This is Going to Hurt
Thankfully this festive spin off was just as good/heart-warming/heart-breaking and kept me thoroughly entertained.
5*s
Rating: really liked it
Funny
Short
Stories of six christmases spent in the ER or the labour ward
Totally season appropriate
Rating: really liked it
I’m on the fence about this one. On one hand, it was fun to dive back into more real-life stories from the NHS frontline, however, it was short in length and some T/W for miscarriage and abortion. Some of the entries I enjoyed, some not so much. For now, I’ve rated this one 3.5 stars but may edit in the future!
Rating: really liked it
I absolutely LOVED This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor but if you have not read it then THIS collection of stories won’t really make sense. It also feels a little like the stories in this one were the rejects that did not make the cut for the first book.
As the author himself states:
”In my first book, This is Going to Hurt, the most common reasons for entries being omitted included ‘too disgusting’ or ‘too Christmassy’. Here I make amends for both.And because this was just a hodgepodge of stories with no real narrative arc it didn't feel as complete as the first book.
But I still enjoyed this author’s unique brand of humor and turn of phrase. And if you have spent anytime in a hospital over the Christmas season (whether as a patient or visitor) you will probably be able to relate in some way.
What struck me in this and the first book, is although the author deals with his daily struggles as a doctor with humor, there is a highly sensitive man behind the funny. There was one particular story in this book that got to me as much as it did Adam.
Recommended for fans of This Is Going to Hurt: Secret Diaries of a Junior Doctor
Rating: really liked it
This was a really good book. I’ve read the first Adam Kay book which was great and this one was just as good. It was absolutely hilarious in a lot of parts and a few sad pages but the hilarious pages more than made up for it. I really hope Adam Kay writes another book. This was short but very sweet and I definitely recommend both books to everyone.
Rating: really liked it
a short enjoyable read about working in hospitals being a junior doctor at Christmas time it was funny in parts as most people forget NHS is 24/7 365/366 days a year thing
