Book Review: The Tennis Partner

The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese is a fairly autobiographical story by my previous residency program director. Part of the reason I chose Stanford for my internship year was because I was drawn to a program whose figurehead was a writer. And indeed, after getting to know him in a professional capacity over the last year, I ventured to seek him out in the literary form. This is the first book I've read of Dr. Verghese. It is a story of his time in El Paso, Texas, where as a young professor of medicine, he befriends a medical student recovering from drug addiction. At the same time, he describes the unraveling of his own marriage. The two of them, at first harbored in isolation, find a bond on the tennis court, developing a relationship of professor-student, friend-friend, and tennis coach-devotee. It is a beautifully written story that explores relationships between friends, lovers, and addictions, the practice of medicine at the border of Texas and Mexico, the history of tennis, and the psychological struggle of drug use, rehabilitation, and temptation.

I really enjoyed the book. I didn't know what to expect, since I knew the author (though he was never my attending), and I found it strange, uncomfortable, then curious to step into his past life where he reveals things he wouldn't otherwise. As I read the book, I heard his voice; the storytelling is a representation of the person I know. The writing is magnanimous; at times, it is too large and tries to swallow too much, but for the most part, he coaxes history, geography, science, psychology, and fantasy into a medley of emotion. I really enjoyed The Tennis Partner and look forward to reading other works by Dr. Verghese.

Image shown under Fair Use, from www.abrahamverghese.com.