Hope in Hell: Inside the World of Doctors Without Borders is a 2006 book by Dan Bortolotti about
Médecins Sans Frontières.
Summary
The book covers the activities undertaken by
Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) such as building hospitals and navigating conflict zones.
Content covers the complexities of dealing with bureaucracies, epidemics, abductions and killings.
Bortolotti is critical of the mainstream media for its simplistic and heroic portrayal of MSF staff.
Style
The book is written in the style of a report.
Reception
Jenniger Prittie, writing for
Quill and Quire described it as "gripping" and "clear" and noted that it would be of interest to a wide range of readers.
Prittie also praised the book for not glorifying the international staff of MSF and for discussing the struggles they face integrating back into their home countries.
Amanda Walters Scarborough, writing in
The Lancet
''The Lancet'' is a weekly peer-reviewed general medical journal and one of the oldest of its kind. It is also the world's highest-impact academic journal. It was founded in England in 1823.
The journal publishes original research articles, ...
, described the book as a "comprehensive picture of the essence of volunteerism."
Benjamin Bates of
Ohio University
Ohio University is a Public university, public research university in Athens, Ohio. The first university chartered by an Act of Congress and the first to be chartered in Ohio, the university was chartered in 1787 by the Congress of the Confeder ...
is critical of Bortolotti for writing a simple and heroic caricature of MSF and it's staff and accuses the author of "disaster pornography".
Bates also criticizes the story for centering white, middle class men and for missing the perspectives of MSF's patients.
Isabelle Leblac, writing in the
Canadian Medical Association Journal, criticizes the lack of reporting on the activities of the local staff.
See also
*
Six Months in Sudan
*
An Imperfect Offering
References
{{reflist
Médecins Sans Frontières
2006 non-fiction books
Medical literature
Books about health care