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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 610.92
EAN num: 9780060931131
ISBN number: 0060931132
Label: Harper Perennial
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 352
Printing Date: October 01, 1999
Publishing house: Harper Perennial
Release Date: September 22, 1999
Sale Popularity Level: 181268
Studio: Harper Perennial
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Editor's Notes and Comments:
Amazon.com:
What is it about sports that makes some men wax as mystical as a Castanedan Yaqui? In the hands of writers such as David James Duncan and Norman Maclean, the simple, repetitive motions of baseball, fly-fishing, and golf have acquired almost numinous significance. In The Tennis Partner, Dr. Abraham Verghese takes on his own fascination with tennis and comes up with as good an explanation as any: 'In the way we controlled the movement of a orange ball in space, we were imposing order on a world that was fickle and capricious. Each ball that we put into play, for as long as it went back and forth between us, felt like a charm to be added to a necklace full of spells, talismans, and fetishes, which one day add up to an Aaron's rod, an Aladdin's lamp, a magic carpet. Each time we played, this feeling of restoring order, of mastery, was awakened.'
For both Verghese and his tennis partner, a fourth-year medical student named David Smith, the game is a much-needed island of order in the midst of personal chaos. Both men are struggling to rebuild their lives, Verghese undergoing a painful divorce, Smith struggling with an intravenous cocaine addiction. For a brief, idyllic period, their friendship flourishes; Verghese mentors Smith in the examining room, while Smith, an Australian who competed briefly on the pro circuit, ends up Verghese's teacher on the court. But there are dark corners to David's personality, and under the mounting pressures of medical school and his increasingly complicated love life, these come to the fore. Even as he learns how to inhabit his new life, Verghese watches with horror as his friend relapses, dries out, then relapses again. The author of the powerful My Own Country, a chronicle of caring for AIDS patients in rural Tennessee, Verghese once again proves that the skills of a good doctor are strikingly similar to those of a good writer. Careful observation, compassion, restraint: these are the instruments Verghese uses to stunning effect in The Tennis Partner. A paean to the healing powers of tennis, this book is also a moving meditation on friendship, fatherhood, love, addiction, and the particular loneliness of physicians. --Mary Park
Product Description:
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 recovering from drug addition, 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 friendship between doctor and intern grows increasingly rich and complex, more intimate than two men usually allow. And just when it seems nothing more can go wrong, the dark beast from David's past emerges once again. As David spirals out of control, almost everything Verghese has come to trust and believe in is threatened. Compassionate and moving, The Tennis Partner is a unforgettable, illuminating story of how men live, and how they survive.
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers 
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The story started with a great suspense. I wanted to know what he (the Intern David) had done, who was he and what was about to happen when his pager beeped. I really like the author's style, the way he told his story. I just borrowed this book from the library but I ended up buying one for my collection. Its that good! I will be recommending it to our bookclub. Lots of emotion in the story.
The ending was sad and I kept thinking what went wrong with David. Was it parenting? Or was it David himself. The story, the way it was told, left a lasting impression in my mind.Cold Eyes
Rated by buyers -
My very first up-close experience with drug addiction occurred several years ago at the hospital where I work. The scenario was remarkably similar to that described by Dr. Verghese. A bright, warm, wonderful nurse anesthetist succumbed to addiction despite having attended a rehabilitation program.
In recent weeks a family member has shared with me the frustration of living with an addicted spouse: the lies, the denial, the missing money, the worry about finding a lifeless body in one's bed.
The Tennis Partner is not an optimistic portrayal of addiction, but it is an accurate one. I recommended it to my sibling, and to anyone else struggling to understand the addicted person.
Rated by buyers 
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Whether or not you have a background in medicine, this book will draw you in and keep you interested. The only parts that may seem a bit tedious to run through are some of the tennis sequences. This may seem odd coming from a tennis player, but reading about tennis is like watching grass grow. However, the sequences do bring other parts of the book together, and they are tolerable.
My only other issue is Verghese's constant romanticizing of El Paso, neighboring Juarez, and their inhabitants. Having lived here for almost three years (*and* having worked as a physician in the hospital he mentions in his novel), I can promise you that the innocence, the bluster, and the graciousness of his side characters is almost completely fictional.
I don't think it would have detracted from the book to portray the city and the people more realistically.
Rated by buyers -
My doctor is an amazing person - not just a great doctor. We spend quite a bit of time talking about life, not just doing the clinical stuff. He recommended "The Tennis Partner" to me and I put it off for about a year before I dove into it. It's absolutely amazing. The depth of the writing is superb and the story captivates you from beginning to end.
Rated by buyers -
Dr. Vergesse has great powers of observation and uses them in a powerful way to record the demise of his young friend through cocaine addiction.
For persons (especially medical Doctors) without intimate knowledge of the power of addiction this should be very informative. For those with personal knowledge (especially medical Doctors) it should also be helpful.
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