Van Gross of Monte Cristo

About the Book

1997 to 2004 encompassed a very turbulent period for the United States and the world more generally. From the Clinton scandals, the lead up to the Millennium, the Great Loose Chad Presidential Election of 2000 to the planet riveting events of September 2001, there is plenty to pontificate about....and Van Gross, MD certainly does that. But he'll get personal, satirical, educational and wax poetic too. As the U.S. entered overseas wars in the early 2000's, its role in the Mid-East, its incipient reformulation of race relations and increasing attention paid to the Americas, only climate change and/or Al Gore would seem to be in the way of planetary chaos. Acknowledging a supporting cast of celebrities from politicians such as Bush and Fidel to performing artists that include Pete Rose and Mother Theresa, Van Gross, MD propels forward from the spectacular insights of Oliver Sacks. This neurologist/commentator wows in the brain/mind/body arenas as well. Short essays and poems pack this volume and even take us back in history to how we got there. Lock in your W's everyone. It's the Van Gross, MD "Who, What and Where Game" and as Sly Stone reminded us way back when "Everybody is a star."

About the Author

Preceding deplorables such as Hillary Rodham Clinton and wallflowers such as Donald J. Trump, Kenneth Bruce Van Gross, MD jumped off an earth seeking asteroid and became one of the early founders of "fake news" which was originally called “satire” back in the early Aughts but was adopted if not stolen by evil doers to spread political propaganda. Van Gross, MD is a writer and neurologist who has been awarded Diplomate status by both the American Board of Internal Medicine and by the American Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (N). He has lectured extensively on The Aging Brain/Aging Mind and presented original thoughts and poetry on that subject. He has delivered commencement addresses at medical college graduations and dissected the brain, body, and behavior in addition to the great speeches of Kennedy and Lincoln as a University Adjunct Professor in Neuropsychiatry, Medicine, Public Speaking and Communications.

Beyond his knowledge in medicine, speech/language and the neurosciences, Van Gross, MD, has developed a unique career as a commentator, poet, and multi-dimensional writer. Having been published in peer reviewed medical journals, popular university newspapers and in the general press, he has revealed diverse literary talents. These include the ability, rare among individuals who have entered medicine, to spell the word “cat” and appropriately place it in a sentence. In addition, his stinging wit and unrestrained consciousness pervade much of his poetry and prose on subjects from Politics, World Events and American Cultural Wars to how the brain works in the cranial vaults of zealots, pundits and those who are addicted to reruns of “Get Smart” (“Chief? Max”). Finally, he has violated boundaries with riotous neurosociological and neurophilosophical commentary (including voice impersonations) through the audiotapes That Neuro Guy, Mind Ramblings of Van Gross and published works on the Primal Neuroanthropology of Sports.

He has appeared on musical, cultural and educational programs carried by WRCU-FM in Hamilton, NY and by WGBB-AM on Long Island. He has also been featured in The Love Jones Revived Show in Miami as a Spoken Word Artist during which he has presented his Neurofusion Poetry including “MedRap”, “Black White Race, Sex and Sports” and “USA-World Poetry Slam”.

While wasting away in Miami, the Caribbean and now Philadelphia compiling a treasury of illegible essays and poems to form works such as Van Gross of Monte Cristo, The Five Books and scrawling the nearly incoherent but Writer’s Digest award winning fictionalized medical adventure, i.e., the play, Movement Disorder, Van Gross, MD also paces and exhibits circling behavior, characteristic of the deranged in preparation for his next radio, lecture or writing gig.

So, the Five Books of Van Gross’s covers important years in the Aughts, in this lead up to this retro Roaring decade. And don’t worry, Van Gross, MD has material for follow up works for other intercurrent years in this wild and wacky 21st century. It’s kind of crazy, but many of the same characters from the Aughts somehow resurface today. Karzai, Rudy, Bidey, Kerry, Iranians, Climate Players and even versions of Bush and The Cheney Man. We’re just doing reruns!! But I’ve got a book for that (in the works supplementing if not magnifying the mega-impact of the Five Books collection).