Clinical Epidemiology: A Basic Science for Clinical Medicine.

I might have guessed that a book dedicated to H.L. Mencken, Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., Douglas Adams, and the Emperor's New Clothes would be fun to read. It was! Readers will sense the authors' enthusiasm for their subject on each page, from the preface to the final chapter. The authors prepared this book for users rather than doers of clinical research. Physicians and others who wish to recognize key clinical epidemiologic features of the diagnosis and management of patients will benefit from reading Clinical Epidemiology. Those who wish to conduct actual research studies will need to look elsewhere for a detailed discussion of clinical epidemiologic methodology. In this review, I will mention