Robin Cook (American novelist)

Last updated

Robin Cook
Robin Cook in Warsaw Poland 2008.jpg
Robin Cook in Warsaw (2008)
BornRobert Brian Cook
(1940-05-04) May 4, 1940 (age 84)
Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States
Occupation
Education Wesleyan University (BS)
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (MD)
Ophthalmology at Harvard
Public policy at Harvard Kennedy School [1]
Genre Thriller
RelativesEdgar Lee Cook (father)
Audrey Cook (mother)
Website
robincook.com

Robert Brian "Robin" Cook (born May 4, 1940) [2] is an American physician and novelist who writes largely about medicine and topics affecting public health.

Contents

He is known best for combining medical writing with the thriller genre. Many of his books have been bestsellers on The New York Times Best Seller List. Several of his books have also been featured by Reader's Digest . His books have sold nearly 400 million copies worldwide. [3]

Early life and career

Cook was born in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Woodside, Queens. He relocated to Leonia, New Jersey when he was eight years old, where he could first have the "luxury" of having his own room. [4] He graduated from Leonia High School in 1958. [5]

Subsequently, Cook graduated from Wesleyan University and Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, and finished his postgraduate medical training at Harvard. [1]

Cook managed the Cousteau Society's blood-gas laboratory in the south of France. He later became an aquanaut (a submarine doctor) with the U.S. Navy's SEALAB program when he was drafted in 1969. [6] Cook served in the Navy from 1969 to 1971, attaining the rank of lieutenant commander. He wrote his first novel, Year of the Intern , while serving aboard the Polaris-type submarine USS Kamehameha. [2]

Novelist

The Year of the Intern, was a failure, but Cook began to study bestsellers. [4] He said, "I studied how the reader was manipulated by the writer. I came up with a list of techniques that I wrote down on index cards. And I used every one of them in Coma." [4] He conceived the idea for Coma , about creating illegally a supply of transplant organs, in 1975. [4] In March 1977, that novel's paperback rights sold for $800,000. [4] It was followed by the Egyptology thriller Sphinx in 1979 and another medical thriller, Brain , in 1981. [4] Cook then decided he preferred writing rather than a medical career. [4]

Cook's novels combine medical fact with fantasy. His medical thrillers are designed, in part, to keep the public aware of both the technological possibilities of modern medicine and the socio-ethical problems associated with it. [2] :73 Cook says he chose to write thrillers because they give him "an opportunity to get the public interested in things about medicine that they didn't seem to know about. I believe my books are actually teaching people." [7]

The author admits he never thought that he would have such compelling material to work with when he began writing fiction in 1970. "If I tried to be the writer I am today a number of years ago, I wouldn't have very much to write about. But today, with the pace of change in biomedical research, there are any number of different issues, and new ones to come," he says. [8]

Cook's novels have anticipated national controversy. In an interview with Stephen McDonald about the novel Shock , Cook admitted the book's timing was fortuitous:

I suppose that you could say that it's the most like Coma in fact that it deals with an issue that everybody seems to be concerned about. I wrote this book to address the stem cell issue, which the public really doesn't know anything about. Besides entertaining readers, my main goal is to get people interested in some of these issues, because it's the public that ultimately should be able to decide which way we ought to go in something as ethically questioning as stem cell research. [8]

To date, Cook has fictionalized issues such as organ donation, fertility treatment, genetic engineering, in vitro fertilization, research funding, managed care, medical malpractice, medical tourism, drug research, and organ transplantation. [7]

"I joke that if my books stop selling, I can always fall back on brain surgery," he says. "But I am still very interested in it. If I had to do it over again, I would still study medicine. I think of myself more as a doctor who writes, rather than a writer who happens to be a doctor." He explained the popularity of his works thus: "The main reason is, we all realize we are at risk. We're all going to be patients sometime," he says. "You can write about great white sharks or haunted houses, and you can say I'm not going into the ocean or I'm not going in haunted houses, but you can't say you're not going to go into a hospital." [8]

Many of his novels concern hospitals (both fictional and non-fictional) in Boston, which may have to do with the fact that he had his post-graduate training at Harvard and lives in Boston, and/ or in New York.

Personal life

He is on leave from the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. [9]

Cook is a private member of the Woodrow Wilson Center's Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees, directed by chairman Joseph B. Gildenhorn, are appointed to six-year terms by the President of the United States. [10]

Books

Jack Stapleton and Laurie Montgomery series

Movie and television adaptations

Related Research Articles

<i>Crash</i> (Ballard novel) 1973 novel by J. G. Ballard

Crash is a novel by English author J. G. Ballard, first published in 1973 with cover designed by Bill Botten. It follows a group of car-crash fetishists who become sexually aroused by staging and participating in car accidents, inspired by the famous crashes of celebrities.

<i>Fahrenheit 451</i> 1953 dystopian novel by Ray Bradbury

Fahrenheit 451 is a 1953 dystopian novel by American writer Ray Bradbury. It presents a future American society where books have been outlawed and "firemen" burn any that are found. The novel follows in the viewpoint of Guy Montag, a fireman who soon becomes disillusioned with his role of censoring literature and destroying knowledge, eventually quitting his job and committing himself to the preservation of literary and cultural writings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Crichton</span> American author and filmmaker (1942–2008)

John Michael Crichton was an American author, screenwriter and filmmaker. His books have sold over 200 million copies worldwide, and over a dozen have been adapted into films. His literary works heavily feature technology and are usually within the science fiction, techno-thriller, and medical fiction genres. Crichton’s novels often explore human technological advancement and attempted dominance over nature, both with frequently catastrophic results; many of his works are cautionary tales, especially regarding themes of biotechnology. Several of his stories center specifically around themes of genetic modification, hybridization, paleontology and/or zoology. Many feature medical or scientific underpinnings, reflective of his own medical training and scientific background.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Goldman</span> American novelist, screenwriter and playwright

William Goldman was an American novelist, playwright, and screenwriter. He first came to prominence in the 1950s as a novelist before turning to screenwriting. Among other accolades, Goldman won two Academy Awards in both writing categories—once for Best Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) and once for Best Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men (1976).

<i>Marathon Man</i> (novel) 1974 novel by William Goldman

Marathon Man is a 1974 conspiracy thriller novel by William Goldman. It was Goldman's most successful thriller novel, and his second suspense novel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dick Francis</span> English jockey and crime writer (1920–2010)

Richard Stanley Francis was a British steeplechase jockey and crime writer whose novels centre on horse racing in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert Harris (novelist)</span> English novelist (born 1957)

Robert Dennis Harris is a British novelist and former journalist. Although he began his career in journalism and non-fiction, his fame rests upon his works of historical fiction. Beginning with the best-seller Fatherland, Harris focused on events surrounding the Second World War, followed by works set in ancient Rome. His most recent works centre on contemporary history.

<i>Coma</i> (novel) 1977 novel by Robin Cook

Coma is Robin Cook's first commercially successful novel, published by Signet Book in 1977. Coma was preceded in 1973 by Cook's lesser-known novel Year of the Intern.

<i>Sphinx</i> (novel) Novel by Robin Cook

Sphinx is a 1979 novel by Robin Cook. It follows a young American Egyptologist named Erica Baron, on a working vacation in Egypt, who stumbles into a dangerous vortex of intrigue after seeing an ancient Egyptian statue of Seti I in a Cairo market. Cook's third novel, it is one of the few not centered on medicine.

<i>Godplayer</i> Novel by Robin Cook

Godplayer is a novel by Robin Cook. It was first released in 1983 in the UK and United States. It has 285 pages. Like most of Cook's other work, it is a medical thriller. Working with her husband, a respected cardiac surgeon, at Boston Memorial is a dream come true for Dr. Cassandra Kingsley—until a series of mysterious deaths rocks the hospital and Cassandra's most frightening suspicions are realized. Amidst a hospital power struggle that pits resident doctors against private practitioners, eighteen cardiac surgery patients mysteriously die. Doctors Cassandra Kingsley and Robert Seibert investigate the deaths, making disturbing discoveries, such as a drug-taking, knife-happy surgeon and lethal IVs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">F. Paul Wilson</span> American author and medical doctor (born 1946)

Francis Paul Wilson is an American medical doctor and author of horror, adventure, medical thrillers, science fiction, and other genres of literary fiction. His books include the Repairman Jack novels—including Ground Zero, The Tomb, and Fatal Error—the Adversary cycle—including The Keep—and a young adult series featuring the teenage Jack. Wilson has won the Prometheus Award, the Bram Stoker Award, the Inkpot Award from the San Diego ComiCon, and the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Horror Writers of America, among other honors. He lives in Wall, New Jersey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Ridley</span> American writer and director

John Ridley IV is an American screenwriter, television director, novelist, and showrunner, known for 12 Years a Slave, for which he won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. He is also the creator and showrunner of the anthology series American Crime. In 2017 he directed the documentary film Let It Fall: Los Angeles 1982–1992.

<i>Coma</i> (1978 film) 1978 film by Michael Crichton

Coma is a 1978 American mystery thriller film based on the 1977 novel of the same name by Robin Cook. The film rights were acquired by director Michael Crichton,who also wrote the screenplay, and the movie was produced by Martin Erlichmann for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The cast includes Geneviève Bujold, Michael Douglas, Elizabeth Ashley, Richard Widmark, and Rip Torn. Among the actors in smaller roles are Tom Selleck, Lois Chiles, and Ed Harris.

<i>Outbreak</i> (novel) Novel by Robin Cook

Outbreak is a medical thriller written by Robin Cook and published in 1987 which deals with an outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the United States.

Giles Blunt is a Canadian novelist, poet, and screenwriter. His first novel, Cold Eye, was a psychological thriller set in the New York art world, which was made into the French movie Les Couleurs du diable.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Palmer (novelist)</span> American novelist

Michael Stephen Palmer, M.D., was an American physician and author. His novels are often referred to as medical thrillers. Some of his novels have made The New York Times Best Seller list and have been translated into 35 languages. One, Extreme Measures (1991), was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Gene Hackman.

<i>Harmful Intent</i> 1990 novel by Robin Cook

Harmful Intent (1990) is a novel by Robin Cook. Like most of Cook's other works, it is a medical thriller.

<i>Marathon Man</i> (film) 1976 film by John Schlesinger

Marathon Man is a 1976 American thriller film directed by John Schlesinger. It was adapted by William Goldman from his 1974 novel of the same title and stars Dustin Hoffman, Laurence Olivier, Roy Scheider, William Devane and Marthe Keller. In the film, "Babe" Levy, a graduate student, becomes embroiled in a plot by Nazi war criminal Christian Szell to retrieve ill-gotten diamonds from a safe deposit box owned by Szell's dead brother. Babe becomes unwittingly involved due to his brother Doc's dealings with Szell.

<i>Sphinx</i> (film) 1981 film by Franklin J. Schaffner

Sphinx is a 1981 American adventure film directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starring Lesley-Anne Down and Frank Langella. The screenplay by John Byrum is based on the 1979 novel of the same name by Robin Cook.

<i>Coma</i> (American miniseries) 2012 US medical thriller miniseries by Mikael Salomon

Coma is a 2012 American television miniseries based on the 1977 novel Coma by Robin Cook and the subsequent 1978 film Coma. The four-hour medical thriller was originally broadcast on A&E on September 3–4, 2012.

References

  1. 1 2 Cooking Another Medical Thriller Archived February 1, 2014, at the Wayback Machine , Naple News. By Sandy Reed. "Q&A about [Robin Cook's] 31st book and much more." Sixth paragraph. March 27, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2012.
  2. 1 2 3 Stookey, Lorena Laura (1996). Robin Cook: A Critical Companion, Westport, Connecticut, London: Greenwood Press. ISBN   0-313-29578-6
  3. AEI Speakers, American Entertainment International Speakers Bureau. "Robin Cook Biography". Second and fifth paragraphs. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fabrikant, Geraldine (January 21, 1996). "TALKING MONEY WITH: DR. ROBIN COOK". The New York Times . Retrieved February 22, 2017.
  5. "Dr. Robin Cook, Author". Local History Catalog. Leonia Public Library. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
  6. Jay McDonald. "Workaholic doctor-author says money never a goal" . Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  7. 1 2 "Author Biography" . Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  8. 1 2 3 Jay McDonald. "What a shock: Robin Cook fuses stem cells with a suspenseful tale". Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
  9. Jennes, Gail (April 6, 1981). "Dr. Robin Cook Has An Rx for Success: a Brain in the Bookstores and a Beauty at Home". People . Vol. 16, no. 13. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  10. "WilsonCenter.org : About : Woodrow Wilson Center Board of Trustees". Archived from the original on May 15, 2007. Retrieved July 5, 2007.
  11. "Television Movie: Robin Cook's Harmful Intent". The New York Times.
  12. "Harmful Intent". Moviefone.
  13. "Morta Fear". moviefone. Retrieved May 9, 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Robin Cook Info". Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved October 8, 2007.