Sunday, January 9, 2011

AAHPM's 2011 Bookclub: Cutting for Stone


I am excited for the upcoming meeting in Vancouver, BC.  It's a city I have long dreamed of visiting, and a meeting I enjoy returning each year.  Last year, the Spirituality and Humanities SIG tried something new: a bookclub.  It was a huge success, with a tough but good read.  This year, a very different book was chosen - Abraham Verghese's first novel, Cutting for Stone.


Some reviews:

"I will not cut for stone," runs the text of the Hippocratic oath, "even for patients in whom the disease is manifest; I will leave this operation to be performed by practitioners, specialists in this art."

Washtington Post: Healing the Past - A review by W. Ralph Eubanks
Verghese's narrative moves over decades and generations from India to Ethiopia to an inner-city hospital in New York, describing the cultural and spiritual pull of these places.

The surprising, stunning denouement both arises from and reenacts the major themes of Cutting for Stone: love and betrayal, forgiveness and self-sacrifice, and the inextricable union of life and death.


From Abraham Verghese's own site: his reading group guide.

If anyone is interested in helping to lead the discussions (it was a lot of fun last year) - please contact Emily Muse, from AAHPM.  The online social discussion group is through Goodreads.  

To purchase the book:

An Indie store near you


Borders





In Europe
at CD WOW




2 Responses to “AAHPM's 2011 Bookclub: Cutting for Stone”

Jay Riseman said...
January 10, 2011 at 5:34 PM

This is a wonderful book that I just finished last week. The surgical descriptions are very close to real, I worked with Dr Starzl for 6 weeks and breathed and slept transplant all that time. Should make for a very interesting book club in Vancouver. This year I will stay at home and mind the store, so my colleagues can go to this wonderful meeting. Hopefully, next year will have a great book to discuss as well.


Jay Riseman said...
March 16, 2011 at 11:53 PM

This is a wonderful book that I just finished last week. The surgical descriptions are very close to real, I worked with Dr Starzl for 6 weeks and breathed and slept transplant all that time. Should make for a very interesting book club in Vancouver. This year I will stay at home and mind the store, so my colleagues can go to this wonderful meeting. Hopefully, next year will have a great book to discuss as well.