The Tennis Partner by Abraham Verghese

I chose this book because I loved Abraham Verghese’s Cutting for Stone (highly recommend it).  If I had read the summary more clearly, that it was not fiction, but a memoir, I probably wouldn’t have chosen to read it.  I mean, tennis...really?  That said, I did enjoy parts of the book and it did read like a novel.

Verghese is a doctor working in a hospital in El Paso.  David is a intern from Australia.  David and Abraham strike up a friendship that originally revolves around tennis and then grows deeper.  David has a drug problem which is exacerbated by working in a hospital. 

I enjoyed reading about the cases in the hospital and the friendship and drug issues were quite fascinating.  Ironically, the parts that did not work for me were the excerpts about tennis.

3 stars (Rated PG-13 for drug-use and language)