Reviewed by Jack Magnus for Readers' Favorite

The Joint Kitchen: A Handbook for Orthopaedic Inventors and Fraidy Cats Facing a Knee or Hip Replacement is a nonfiction medical/occupational book written by Michael David Ries. Ries is an orthopedic surgeon and inventor who holds the patents on 45 hip and knee replacement devices. Ries finds his inspiration for designing new and better devices in the kitchen and elsewhere, especially when dealing with everyday food and household items. In this book, he discusses issues that he had with the existing technology, and he illustrates how he was able to design improvements based on his thinking outside the box. His book is geared toward other inventors and professionals in his field, but it’s also a nuts and bolts introduction to joint replacement surgery for those facing such procedures.

Michael David Ries’s nonfiction medical/occupational book, The Joint Kitchen, is a triumphant look at ingenuity and how simple things like looking at a half of an orange or a fried egg can result in improvements in joint replacement equipment. For the prospective patient, Ries includes plenty of illustrations that show exactly what happens when you go in for surgery and what possible complications may arise. Ries presents his information in a conversational manner that makes it accessible to professionals and laymen alike. And while some of his photographs can be a bit alarming at first, he does warn you before you turn the page and interjects just a bit of grisly humor to keep the subject light, relatively speaking.

Thousands of these procedures are carried out each year, so there’s quite a market of people who may benefit from reading this book. I’m recommending it most highly for patients and their families. And, if they can arrange to have their surgery undertaken by Dr. Ries, I can’t think of a better choice of orthopedic surgeon. The Joint Kitchen: A Handbook for Orthopaedic Inventors and Fraidy Cats Facing a Knee or Hip Replacement is most highly recommended.