Roald Dahl's Marvellous Medicine

''Roald Dahl's Marvellous Medicine'', a combination of memoir and science, was published by Liverpool University Press in 2016. British professor of neurology Tom Solomon was a newly qualified physician at the Nuffield Department of Medicine in John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, in 1990 when he was part of British haematologist David Weatherall's team that cared for Roald Dahl, then terminally ill with leukaemia. ''Roald Dahl's Marvellous Medicine'' is based on Solomon's recollections of their conversations that mostly took place during his night shifts, and Dahl's writings. ==Content==

The book is divided into five parts: “A Towering Giant”, “The Great Inventor”, “An Enormous Shadow”, “Gobblefunking”, and “No Book Ever Ends”. These sections encompass 17 chapters and are followed by acknowledgments, a bibliography, notes, photo credits, an index, and a list of charities that benefit from its proceeds. Eight pages of photographs of Dahl are displayed in the centre pages. ''Roald Dahl's Marvellous Medicine'' details the extent to which medicine affected Dahl's life, including his involvement in developing the Wade-Dahl-Till valve he helped create to treat the hydrocephalus his son Theo suffered after a severe head injury, the death of Olivia Dahl, stroke rehabilitation, and Dahl's measles vaccination letter of 1986 which he wrote in response to ongoing cases of measles in the United Kingdom at that time despite the introduction of an effective measles vaccine. The book also draws connections between these events and his children’s stories, including how the mixed up words of The BFG were possibly inspired by the language his first wife, Patricia Neal, used following her stroke. ==Reviews==

A review of the book in the British Society of Literature and Science commended the book as an engaging and inspiring read that appeals to both scholars in medical humanities and general audiences. It noted that as the narrative develops, it becomes particularly moving, highlighting the vital connection between medicine and emotion. ==Adaptations==

The book was adapted into a show for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 2017. The show, performed by Solomon, subsequently toured the UK. ==See also==