Here Be Dragons
One Man’s Quest to Make Healthcare More Accessible & Affordable
With its suggestions for how the US health-care system might be improved, Here Be Dragons is an illuminating insider’s memoir.
Web Golinkin’s memoir Here Be Dragons follows his mission to revolutionize American health care.
For thirty-five years, Golinkin’s career was driven by a desire to deliver affordable, accessible health care to the people. Here he recalls how, before retail clinics became a staple in drugstores and supermarkets, Americans needed a primary care physician—and a timely appointment—to obtain vaccines, pick up prescriptions, and seek treatment for minor illnesses like the cold or flu. After graduating from Harvard and venturing into televised and internet-based health care himself, Golinkin founded RediClinic as a health-care solution for Americans without the time or need for a physician.
The book’s chapters open and close with narrative signposts that ground its story, reflecting how Golinkin’s job descriptions and priorities changed over time. Much of the book follows Golinkin’s time as RediClinic’s CEO in particular, covering the victories and setbacks he encountered along the way. These included red tape, government interference, the Great Recession, and failed acquisitions. In covering these and other topics, Golinkin is an open, affable narrator—and an efficient one, moving with speed through his various career experiences.
There are engaging behind-the-scenes looks at Golinkin’s various business decisions; these are complemented by expressions of everyday passion, including for his family, his coworkers, and his health and fitness regimen. Still, while the opening chapters balance their personal and professional accounts well, as the book progresses, its coverage of Golinkin’s life outside of work wanes. Indeed, the last portions of the book read like a mere career play-by-play, with few lessons or insights pulled forward.
The book’s final chapter includes some direct business advice, as well as suggestions for how the US’s health-care delivery system can be improved. In addition to the few other takeaways that crop up throughout the book, these thoughts are instructive and illuminating. Topics like the importance of “servant leadership” and the need for preventive health care are fleshed out herein. There are also brief discussions of COVID-19 and its impact on the health-care industry, though the topic is rushed through—as is coverage of Golinkin’s business transactions from 2020 onward, where the tone is atypically restrained.
The book’s use of text boxes and pull quotes leads to visual distractions, with the exception of those that contain emails or excerpts from other books. The other text boxes contain information that flows with the rest of the text; the stylistic deviation is unclear. Similarly, the pull quotes, while they break up their pages visually, feel superfluous.
Here Be Dragons is a revealing business memoir written by an American health-care insider.
Reviewed by
Hannah Pearson
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
