The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss (P.S.)

An unforgettable, illuminating story of how men live and how they survive, from Abraham Verghese, the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water, an Oprah's Book Club Pick.

“Heartbreaking. . . . Indelible and haunting, [The Tennis Partner] is an elegy to friendship found, and an ode to a good friend lost.”—The Boston Globe

When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student on the difficult path of addiction and recovery, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security in the sport they love and with each other. This story of an unlikely male friendship between doctor and intern grows increasingly rich and complex, more intimate than two men usually allow. Just when it seems nothing can go wrong, the dark beast from David’s past emerges once again—and almost everything Verghese has come to trust and believe in is threatened as David spirals out of control.

• A Physician's Journey: When his own life is unraveling, a physician finds an unexpected and powerful connection with a medical student haunted by his past.
• The Dark Side of Medicine: A raw and honest look at the immense pressure on young doctors and the devastating impact of drug addiction within the medical community.
• A Bond Forged on the Court: More than just a game, a tennis ritual becomes the fragile ground where two men can be vulnerable, until the stakes become higher than winning or losing.
• Literary Nonfiction: From the bestselling author of Cutting for Stone, a beautifully written, heartbreaking memoir about connection, loss, and the ties that bind us.

A practicing physician and a professor of medicine at Stanford University, Abraham Verghese is the author of My Own Country and Cutting for Stone. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, and other publications. He lives in Palo Alto, California.