Review of ‘If Symptoms Persist’, by Dr Theodore Dalrymple

Dr Theodore Dalrymple is a very witty man, averse to committees, legal jargon, social workers, prisoners, and tattoos.  To earn his living he meters out advice and prescriptions in inner-city London to Britain’s uneducated and tattooed underclass, of which he has a healthy disdain for.   This blackly humorous book could be viewed by some as depressing, but in my opinion it shouldn’t be read in public because it could cause sudden outbursts of laughter, the kind that makes you the unwelcome object of attention on a train for instance.

This doctor is rather world-weary.  He’s seen it all and nothing surprises him.  Here’s a little taster from Amazon:

“One day a man came to consult me.
He was extremely large – what failed dieters call ‘big-boned’ – and very fat. He lost no time in telling me he was diabetic.
‘Do you smoke?’ I asked.
‘Like a chimney,’ he…