‘I loved Kellee Slater’s book. And not just because she’s a transplant surgeon and I have had a liver transplant. At times I felt like she had been reading my mail!’ - Derryn Hinch

When everything is in place and both teams are ready, someone cries out ‘Cross-clamp!’ Then it is on for young and old as the clock is ticking. Up to this point, it has been a careful and considered surgery. Now it is all about speed. We move like Edward Scissorhands, chop, chop, chop. This is the trickiest part - to move fast without cutting something you shouldn’t.

Welcome to the adrenaline-charged world of transplant surgery. Top Australian surgeon Dr Kellee Slater invites us inside the operating theatre with her dedicated team as she performs life-or-death surgery on a newborn baby, brings a dying liver back to life with a staple gun in each hand, and undertakes the confronting task of removing donor organs. How to Do a Liver Transplant is an enthralling - and often blackly funny - glimpse over the shoulder of a gifted surgeon.

Listen to this Richard Fidler Conversation podcast