Clayton, David J.

PERSONAL:

Male. Education: Medical degree.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Pl., New York, NY 10029.

CAREER:

Writer, physician, educator. Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, NY, currently clinical instructor in medicine.

WRITINGS:

(With Laura Vanderkam) The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living: How to Survive Your Bad Habits, Simon & Schuster (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

David J. Clayton is a clinical instructor in general medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He is also the coauthor of The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living: How to Survive Your Bad Habits, a book that a Publishers Weekly reviewer described as "a godsend for young adults with fast-paced, hard-partying lifestyles." Despite the title, Clayton does not in any way advocate unhealthy lifestyles. Much of the advice he imparts, noted reviewer Tom Chiarella in Esquire, is commonsense counsel that readers will probably have heard before: quit smoking, exercise regularly, reduce intake of fatty foods and alcoholic beverages, and so on. Chiarella commented that "mostly the book is a series of gentle proddings and reminders."

Even so, Clayton directs his advice at young professionals and others whose careers, families, and other commitments rob them of time and inclination to carefully examine the lifestyle choices they make and to modify, discard, or adopt new habits where needed. Clayton give "practical, compassionate, nonjudgmental advice on how to make intelligent risk-reducing lifestyle choices," observed Janice Flahiff in Library Journal. He addresses much more than just diet and exercise. Clayton includes material on alcohol and drug abuse; unsafe driving practices and engaging in activities that could result in physical injury; sexual performance improvement; and avoiding unwise, possibly fatal choices in sexual behavior. For those who want to seek assistance through medical treatment or procedures, he offers viewpoints on both traditional and complementary medicine. In the end, Clayton provides guidance for readers wishing to avoid the side effects of ill-advised behaviors.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Esquire, January, 2006, Tom Chiarella, "Dangerous Knowledge: The Unhealthy Guide to the Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living," p. 54.

Library Journal, November 1, 2005, Janice Flahiff, review of The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living: How to Survive Your Bad Habits, p. 106.

Publishers Weekly, October 31, 2005, review of The Healthy Guide to Unhealthy Living, p. 49.

ONLINE

Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine Web site,http://directory.mssm.edu/ (April 14, 2006), biography of David J. Clayton.