Always on Call

Despite all the odds stacked against him-the untimely death of his father, type one diabetes, severe colorblindness and temporal lobe epilepsy-Allen Malnak didn't allow his humble beginnings and shortcomings to hold him back. "We all face obstacles in our life. The difference in our outcomes lies in whether we succumb to them or manage to overcome them," says Malnak.So with grit and steadfast determination, he overcame all adversity and fulfilled his childhood dream of becoming a doctor. Always on Call is a unique memoir filled with short stories and essays inspired by Malnak's illustrious 35 years of clinical practice. Having served as a clinical investigator in liver disease, chief of internal medicine at a US Army Hospital, as well as an assistant clinical professor at the Stritch School of Medicine of Loyola University, Malnak never winced or looked away from situations where bad things happen to good people. Now in his 90s, Malnak recounts his vast life experiences within poignant tales brimming with a sense of adventure, a physician's empathy, and a storyteller's soul. Malnak's fascination for crime fiction accounts for most of this book's noir crime short stories. Maybe a lifetime of being a doctor in Chicago played a role in that passion strongly influenced by his friend Joe Dileonardi, a famous Chicago chief of homicide who is thought to be the inspiration for the TV detective series "Kojak.""That's life," one may feel from reading his stories, memoirs, and reflections. But beneath it all pounds a caring heart. While there is much here in stories of junkies and gamblers and murderous cads, the flame of a redemptive spirit flickers on.