girl in greenwood

The Tennis Partner
by Abraham Verghese

Last year I read Dr. Verghese's My Own Countryabout his practice with rural AIDS patients in the 1980s. I found it tremendously powerful and thought Dr. Verghese was a terrific writer, in addition to a terrific doctor. So when I discovered that he'd written another book, I was excited to read it.

The Tennis Partner is about Dr. Verghese's friendship with an Australian medical student named David Smith. He discovers that Smith had played tennis professionally, and as a lifelong amateur devotee of the game, invites Smith to play with him. They develop a rapport on and off the tennis court, leading to Smith's confession that he is a cocaine addict in recovery. Verghese, who is himself going through a rough time as he separates from his wife, becomes Smith's confidante but is shocked and horrified when Smith begins using cocaine again. You can guess more or less what happens next from the subtitle of the book: "A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss."

Once again, Dr. Verghese has written a powerful book. I'm sure some of the tennis metaphor was lost on me, as I'm not a tennis player, but even so I could see that it was used to tie the whole book together. I eagerly await his next book.

Labels: book reports, medical