In this follow-up to his bestseller My Own Country, Dr. Abraham Verghese focuses on his new life after a move from a small Tennessee clinic where he treated AIDS patients to teach at Texas Tech in El Paso, Texas. He meets David Smith, an Australian intern, who was a tennis pro before attending medical school. The game is Verghese's passion, and the two of them begin to play regularly. Smith is the teacher on the court whereas Verghese is the authority figure while making hospital rounds.
"I wasn't trying to raise my game in order to enter a tournament, collect trophies, and yet it was terribly important to keep playing with David, to play beautifully, to play exquisitely, and with great care, as if the universe rested on the flight of a ball." Eventually Verghese reveals that he and his wife are separating, and David tells him that he is a recovering cocaine addict. Their friendship deepens and provides each with a grace lacking in their everyday lives. That bond is severely tested when David returns to drugs and plunges into a self-destructive spiral. This is a well-written memoir that touches the heart.