The Tennis Partner: A Doctor's Story of Friendship and Loss

“Heartbreaking. . . . Indelible and haunting, [The Tennis Partner] is an elegy to friendship found, and an ode to a good friend lost.”—The Boston Globe

In this powerful physician's memoir, Abraham Verghese, a doctor whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to El Paso, Texas, hoping to make a fresh start as a staff member at the county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student navigating a fragile recovery from drug addiction, 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. Just when it seems nothing can go wrong, the dark beast from David’s past emerges once again—and almost everything Verghese has come to trust and believe in is threatened as David spirals out of control.

• An Unforgettable Male Friendship: A physician starting over and a medical student with a dark past form an unlikely bond on the tennis courts of El Paso, a relationship that becomes more intimate and complex than either man expects.
• A Gut-Wrenching Story of Addiction: Witness the devastating cycle of relapse as David Smith, a brilliant medical intern and former tennis pro, fights the beast of his addiction, threatening to destroy his career, his friendship, and himself.
• The Healing Power of Sport: For two men constrained by their professional roles, the tennis court becomes a sanctuary—a place to find security, shed inhibitions, and build a trust that transcends the lines.
• Literary Memoir: From the beloved author of Cutting for Stone comes a luminous, heartbreaking, and unflinchingly honest exploration of how men live, how they connect, and how they survive.