"I pointed out to the court that just because a condition has never been described it does not mean that it does not exist..."
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Sex & Alcohol in Retirement by Dr. G. Alan Rose Trafford Publishing
book review by Priscilla Estes
Amidst a firestorm of publicity, Dr. Rose opens the first gender determination clinic in England in 1993, and a later one in Hong Kong. With engaging humor and a clinician's fair-mindedness, Rose relates the scientific, ethical, legal, and personal issues involved in "playing God" with the gender of a child. Statistics on the types of couples who participated and why are surprising, as is the fact that there is an "80% success rate in forming males when that sex had been requested."
The second part of the book analyzes drink-driving (drunk-driving) cases, using Rose's unique professional perspective as an expert witness. Rose has seen and heard all the drunken driving defenses imaginable and shares some of the more unusual ones, such as "autobrewery syndrome" and "Megacolon." Rose outlines advances in the field of alcohol detection, starting with the drunkometer in 1938, and shares common tricks people use to fool the tests.
Rose's post-retirement forays into the sex and alcohol industries are outgrowths of a career in chemistry and medicine, including many years with England's National Health Service. Scientific studies and legal data render some stranger-than-fiction stories into fact. Despite the arresting if somewhat misleading title, the subject matter fascinates. The narrative is straightforward and engaging, aside from overly casual proofreading and occasional crimes against punctuation. An index and well-chosen illustrations round out the pleasurable experience. The graphic cover alone, painted by Rose's wife, rewards careful study with a thoughtful smile. With his extensive medico-legal background, Rose provides authoritative, behind-the scenes insights into the twin worlds of gender determination and drunk-driving analyses using humor and an easy tone and style.