Title: Poor No More: An American Dream
Author: Steven Bentley, MD
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-5320-1161-1
Pages: 196
Genre: Memoir
Reviewed by: Susan Hart
Pacific Book Review
Occasionally in a memoir, the personal story is so intense and overwhelmingly difficult to believe, it makes the narrative a challenge to our sense of credibility to assimilate. Dr. Steven Bentley’s autobiographical memoir Poor No More, An American Dream is one such book; a definitive “truth is stranger than fiction” accounting of the challenges he faced to achieve his goals. In it he tells of the many obstacles he needed to overcome from his really horrible childhood, but in doing so, his journey is inspirational to others as he became a successful and productive person; an emergency room doctor.
This book does have a happy ending. The words “mean, vicious, abusive, neglectful, evil, abandoned, unsupervised, forgotten and hateful,” permeate the chronicle of Bentley’s early life. Add to all of the verbal abuse he had to deal with was also a harsh disability he was born with called Kartagener Syndrome; a rare genetic disease which causes abnormalities in the respiratory tract. With all of these cards stacked against him, it’s amazing he got out of childhood alive! But he did. This book shows the determination, perseverance and personal resiliency he needed to manifest in order to survive.
From an early age, Bentley was an independent child. He had to be. His mother was an inattentive alcoholic and his father walked away. He and his four siblings were left to their own devices most of the time, living by wits and ingenuity to find normalcy in a very unconventional situation. He found time for playing and exploration and with his curiosity he excelled at school, which gave him a pathway to success. He enjoyed hiking, camping, boating, scuba diving and water skiing; all while struggling with his respiratory ailments. He travelled, which also expanded his world view. This fueled his desire to become a doctor, specifically in the emergency room.
Bentley’s narrative is honest, while at times brutal to read. He doesn’t sugar coat the awfulness that took place from the adults which confronted him in his youth. Nor does he shy away from detailing the very poor personal choices he made along the way. He says this about his early years, “I had no real moral compass then. In my opinion, this is another thing that parents are supposed to help their children with.” He didn’t have any help with being shown right from wrong, but he needed to find direction on his own … a little bit of trial and error along the way. In the end, the outcomes were a successful career, a wife, a family and a healthy perspective on life.
“If you want something in life, you have to work for it. I did. Life is hard! That is just the way it is,” says Bentley. This story exemplifies these words. If you’re struggling and looking for an encouraging read, Poor No More, An American Dream is just the stimulus you need.
