Rating: 
Summary: Beautifully written, rare look at friendship and addiction
Review: One of those few books that incorporates so many themes seamlessly; drug addiction, work, friendship, divorce, loss. On top of all that, suspensful. Excellent. Nice insights into El Paso as well.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing book from a good writer
Review: The author of My Own Country seems to have lost his touch. Nowhere in The Tennis Partner do you see the same charm or honesty. His prose continues to be elegant, and his images vivid. But this story is simply not as compelling as the one he had to tell in My Own Country. The fatal flaw in The Tennis Partner is that you never really understand the basis of the friendship between the doctor and David. What, besides tennis, did they have in common? David is Verghese's intellectual inferior and the doctor's fascination for him is puzzling. Another problem is the structure of the book. He juxtaposes long italicized segments on tennis that have nothing to do with anything, with themes of drug addiction, medicine, loneliness, marital breakdown, David's relationships with women, and travel-book descriptions of El Paso. The book simply does not cohere. I hope Dr. Verghese can give us more in his next book.
Rating: 
Summary: The compassionate heart of the doctor again takes control of
Review: The compassionate heart of the doctor again takes control of his pen just as it did in his first book,MY OWN COUNTRY. Having been in situations where an addiction has ended a treasured friendship, I was touched by the doctor's story of bonding and loss, of the hard work of relationships and the failure that might follow successes. This is a powerful story of two men connected by a game that is of life as well as tennis; the deep ties that so often are typical of women but rarely are they seen between men; the struggles of each man to hang on to the value of life built between them. It is not often such a deep sense of love is so sensuously described except by women between women.
Rating:
Summary: A touching book regarding finding friendship and loss.
Review: The Tennis Partner was a sensitive and touching portrait of a friendship that is found between two men and the loss that can occur. Verghese handles the feelings, thoughts, emotions and bonding involved in a real and sensitive manner, never cheapening his story by descending into a soap opera style. The evolution of the characters and the relationships of the characters are compelled by their natures which Verghese paints so beautifully with his words. Along with Tuesdays With Morrie, perhaps the most realistic and sensitive book I have ever read.
Rating:
Summary: Gentle book that gives insight into male friendship. GOOD!
Review: This book creates a languge that lies underneath the stereotypical relations between the sexes. At one level the author operates in a world of words that we stumble around with to touch each other. What is poignant about the journal like quality of this writing, is that it brings alive the many levels of communication, (mis)comprehension and intention that exist between a male realm and a female realm. The story of the (male) friendship serves not only for the rather tragic story, but throws into relief the acts through which those men affirm friendship. By making transparent those actions, the author lays bare the underlying inactions, unspoken words, patterns of behaviour between men, that are unlike in the presence of women! Gently, and typically understated, I think the author shows the vulnerability of the veneer through which men operate. There is a quality of humanity, of pathos, which contrasts with the clumsy tenets of outward behaviour that work in a culturally diffuse, gendered world.
Rating:
Summary: Simply but Eloquently Written - a Gift
Review: This book moved me as few others have, in part because of the story itself, but mostly by the beautiful, honest and unadorned way it is written. Abraham Verghese opens his lonely soul without pretense or fanfare: unusual for a man, rarer still for a physician. I have worked with physicians and am close to one. Many of the emotions Verghese describes as he cares for his patients I long suspected physicians experienced, but was never certain. Physicians don't wax poetically to non-physicians over the feeling of a pulse or the percussion of an abdomen, fearful it might diminish them. They certainly don't expose their vulnerability or need for friendship as plainly as Verghese does. Despite their skills and accomplishments, both Verghese and Smith remain very much affected by their childhoods and by their insecurities. They are lost souls. Ultimately, Verghese finds his way back while David is lost forever. It is Verghese's sensitive description of this story that captures both the forlorn and the passionate sides to these two men, forever etching them into my own soul. This is Verghese's true gift to his reader.
Rating:
Summary: More than a game
Review: This is a moving memoir about two men: Abraham, a doctor, and David, a doctor-to-be, who build a deep friendship by playing tennis together. However, tennis becomes much more than just a game- the author Abraham Verghese manages to beautifully tie the different pieces of the story together by using tennis as a metaphor for life. It doesn't matter that David's inability to overcome his addiction and get his life together comes as no surprise to the reader- it still leaves you crushed and deeply saddened. One thing I wish the author would have added more of was reflections on his own problems. It would have been interesting if he had woven in more of his thoughts and feelings about his imminent divorce, his relationship with his wife, children, and thoughts about his romantic future. However, I suppose this is really David's story, and the story of the friendship that developed between the two men and then ended so tragically.
Rating:
Summary: More than a game
Review: This is a moving memoir about two men: Abraham, a doctor, and David, a doctor-to-be, who build a deep friendship by playing tennis together. However, tennis becomes much more than just a game- the author Abraham Verghese manages to beautifully tie the different pieces of the story together by using tennis as a metaphor for life. It doesn't matter that David's inability to overcome his addiction and get his life together comes as no surprise to the reader- it still leaves you crushed and deeply saddened. One thing I wish the author would have added more of was reflections on his own problems. It would have been interesting if he had woven in more of his thoughts and feelings about his imminent divorce, his relationship with his wife, children, and thoughts about his romantic future. However, I suppose this is really David's story, and the story of the friendship that developed between the two men and then ended so tragically.
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well written
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. I am both a doctor and a tennis player, and Dr. V describes both tennis and healthcare with such great detail and insight that I found myself rethinking all I have previously thought on both topics. Read this book!
Rating:
Summary: Incredibly well written
Review: This is one of the best books I have ever read. I am both a doctor and a tennis player, and Dr. V describes both tennis and healthcare with such great detail and insight that I found myself rethinking all I have previously thought on both topics. Read this book!
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