Carol cassella is a bestselling novelist and practicing anesthesiologist. Carol cassella, a freelance medical writer and a practicing anesthesiologist, grounds her haunting debut novel oxygen in the lifeordeath scenarios of the modern medical field. Oxygen is a medical novel based around the branch of anaesthesia, putting people to sleep before operations and giving epidurals etc. Oxygen by carol cassella book cover, description, publication history. Like her protagonist, carol cassella has the heart of a poet and the mind of a physician. She majored in english literature at duke university and graduated from baylor college of medicine in 1986. Oxygen book by carol cassella official publisher page. Her books, which also include oxygen and healer, have been published in multiple foreign languages and highlighted as top choices by library journal. This story brought into relief a growing fear of mine. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading oxygen. And not just because the story was gripping and the writing superb. Now in paperback, carol cassella s riveting national bestseller that seamlessly melds compelling womens fiction and medical drama to create an involving debut. This medical mystery is told with lyric grace and deep compassion. With the compassion of jodi picoult and the medical realism of atul gawande, reallife anesthesiologist carol cassella s riveting national bestseller seamlessly melds compelling womens fiction and medical drama to create an involving debut thats just what the doctor ordered people.