A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids kindle edition. A doctors story is abraham vergheses author of the fictional cutting for stone moving account of his years as a doctor in tennessee. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids, by abraham verghese. Nestled in the smoky mountains of eastern tennessee, the town of johnson city had always. Most are afraid of the repercussions of telling their families and friends the truth. A seriously ill man was waiting for me in a village ten miles distant. Abraham verghese and his work as an infectious disease physician in rural tennessee during the early years of the hiv pandemic.
A doctors journey with the poor, by david hilfiker. Verghese recounts his growth from a relative innocent first encountering aids to an exhausted veteran who has to come to terms with the fact that he could not save his patients. Abdington abraham begins abraham describes abraham learns abraham meets abraham notes abraham says abraham spends abraham tells abraham verghese abrahams first aids abrahams patients admits aids patients aids support group aids victims. A doctors story, we find numerous examples which demonstrate the aids stigma. By the bestselling author of cutting for stone, a story of medicine in the american. My own country a doctors story of a town and its people in the. But this is also vergheses personal story, which dovetails with that of his patients. With naveen andrews, glenne headly, hal holbrook, swoosie kurtz. Moreover, later the doctor decided to take up practice in the city of johnson. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids abraham verghese, author, a. Here we were, in our corner of east tennessee, the. It is used in colleges and medical schools throughout north america and.
Nestled in the smoky mountains of eastern tennessee, the town of johnson city had always seemed exempt from the anxieties of modern american life. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids 448. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age. I had a carriagea light one, with large wheels, entirely suitable for our country roads. This is a book about illness and treatment, about how a small community reacts to the advent of aids, about doctorpatient relationships, the body in decline, the ritual of examination, and how verghese, as a doctor, coped with the inevitability of death. Verghese is a professor at stanford universitys school of medicine and the author of the new york times bestseller my own country. A severe snowstorm filled the space between him and me. Having such high expectations i briefly worried whether i might be disappointed with my own country. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids verghese, abraham. Ein landarzt is a short story written in 1917 by franz kafka. Verghese became by necessity the local aids expert, soon besieged by a shocking number of male and female patients whose stories came to occupy his mind, and even take over his life. My own country is an account of a doctor in rural tennessee.
In the story, a country doctor makes an emergency visit to a sick patient on a winter night. A doctors story, by abraham verghese, specifically, the effect aids and its victims have on the doctor. A doctors story from the worlds largest community of readers. Wrapped up in furs with the bag of instruments in my hand, i was already standing in the courtyard ready for the journey. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. It was first published in the collection of short stories of the same title. My own country traces the story of a young infectiousdisease physician in the mid80s in johnson city, tennessee. He is an infectious disease specialist who has such compassion for his aids patients. He is touchingly honest about his own flaws and about the strain his. But his work at the johnson city medical center soon led him into a shadow world of. But when the local hospital treated its first aids patient, a crisis that had once seemed an urban problem had arrived in the town to stay.
In my own country, abraham verghese, a young indian doctor born and. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids study guide consists of approx. Verghese is a powerful writer, and his rendering of the aids crisis immortalizes the victims of the aids crisis in johnson city. Incredibly it surpassed my expectations on so many levels. By the bestselling author of cutting for stone, a story of medicine in the american heartland, and confronting ones deepest prejudices and fears. It is a doctors personal journey toward understanding the multiple meanings of hivaids for those who have it and those who care for them. Doctors originally thought it would stay in big cities like new york and chicago.
As a foreignborn doctor of indian descent tending outcast patients, he too was a bit of an outsider in rural tennessee. A doctors story abraham verghese, author, abraham vergehese, author, a. Not only is this man eloquent but he comes across as an extraordinarily. Because of the seemingly unending influx of patients with the same symptoms and for whom there was, as yet, no effective treatment, dr.
My own country a doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids. Though a country doctor, a story in which kafka captures with urgent precision the utter absurdity and panicked dread of a bad dream, defies any easy attempt at distilling direct sociological. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids summary, chapterbychapter analysis, book notes, essays, quotes, character descriptions, lesson plans, and more everything you need for studying or teaching my own country. A doctors story written by verghese is about love and loss and the human condition, in every variation.
Verghese coped with the victims and problems of hiv and full blown aids. A doctors story of a town and its people in the age of aids is more than a series of case histories or a chronicle of the doctorpatient relationship. However, it eventually spread to the provinces and this is the true story of how dr. My own country traces the story of a young infectiousdisease physician in the mid80s in johnson city, tennessee, who began to treat patients with a then unknown disease. In my own country is an autobiographical narrative of dr. My own country is the extraordinary story of an indian physician who settled in a rural town in tennessee as a young doctor to aids patients. The questions, discussion topics, and author biography that follow are intended to enhance your groups reading of abraham vergheses my own country.
My own country pdf my own country a doctors story of a. My own country tells the story of an east indian doctor who settles in johnson city, tennessee. My own country is about the emergence of aids in a small town in the us. The doctors name is abraham verghese, and he specializes in infectious diseases. It is the story of a physician, an indian, born in ethiopia to christian expatriate teachers, in america. The autobiographical novel my own country tells the story of a young indian doctor named abraham verghese, who worked in johnson city, tn, when the city faced its first shocking and unexpected. Its 1985, and aids is spreading from the big cities to the rural areas. The story is also exciting because of its fragmentary character a symptom of kafkas searching mind, reflected here in. This book illustrates the journey of the main character which took him to the unknown area to expertise his profession. In brief, this stigma is manifested in any situation which creates undue fear or denial of facts with respect to aids or aids patients. First published in 1994, it made that years new york times notable book list. Many of his patients moved to the big cities of the us to be able to live and express themselves as gay men. A verghese a physicians personal story of working with aids patients in a.