The Tennis Partner

When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unravelling, relocates to Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at a county hospital. From the author of New York Times bestseller The Covenant of Water, an Oprah’s Book Club Selection and one of Barack Obama’s books of the year, a moving memoir of addiction, male friendship and tennis. When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unravelling, relocates to Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at a county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from drug addiction. Their regular tennis games create a space away from the hospital where they can shed their inhibitions. But then David's addiction returns, threatening the friendship. The Tennis Partner goes beyond medical memoir to explore male friendship, addiction and how professional knowledge offers no easy protection from private crisis.