Gasco J, Nader R. The Essential Neurosurgery Companion. Thieme; 2012; 1072 pgs.; 209 illustrations; $99.99.

The Essential Neurosurgery Companion is a 100-page soft cover book, edited by two neurosurgeons from the University of Texas, Galveston (Drs. Gasco and Nader), with contributions from 3 contributing editors and 29 other authors. It is written with the neurosurgical trainee in mind, but others in neuroscience fields can relate to much of the information contained in the book.

There are 20 major sections, which deal with nearly all aspects of neurosurgery, and do so in an interesting and provocative way. That is, multiple questions are asked and then responses are given. By and large, these questions are pertinent to our practice of neuroradiology; some are simple for radiologists (like what is a Scotty dog on a lumbar radiograph), but others are questions which arise in daily NSG practice, issues with which we should be familiar, such as the histologic features of brain tumors, genetic susceptibilities, operative approaches to various lesions, and many more. There are also 8 pages regarding medical Spanish for Neurosurgeons (basically the most rudimentary commands and explanations, but helpful nonetheless).

This book is printed on high-quality paper, so the radiology images and histology sections are crisply shown. This is a publication recommended for residents in neurosurgery, though neuroradiologists would enjoy leafing through a borrowed copy.