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A review by abbythompson
My Own Country: A Doctor's Story by Abraham Verghese
4.0
Part autobiography, part narrative of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the US, part memoir of a small town, My Own Country is one of those rare books that captures a moment and a lifetime in one book.
Verghese and his wife came to Johnson City, TN and made a life there, not knowing at the time how their lives, and their country would soon be tested, torn apart and uplifted by the AIDS virus.
I wasn't even in school in the early 80s (born in 1981) so I was too young for much of the news on the early stages of the epidemic. Despite the miles of literature, both fiction and nonfiction, that has been written about HIV/AIDS, this book filled in the gaps for me. Johnson City, TN could easily be Sanford, ME.
If you read and liked Cutting for Stone, definitely read My Own Country. The beautiful, sharp writing style is still there and Verghese's real life is every bit as dramatic and riveting as his novel.
Verghese and his wife came to Johnson City, TN and made a life there, not knowing at the time how their lives, and their country would soon be tested, torn apart and uplifted by the AIDS virus.
I wasn't even in school in the early 80s (born in 1981) so I was too young for much of the news on the early stages of the epidemic. Despite the miles of literature, both fiction and nonfiction, that has been written about HIV/AIDS, this book filled in the gaps for me. Johnson City, TN could easily be Sanford, ME.
If you read and liked Cutting for Stone, definitely read My Own Country. The beautiful, sharp writing style is still there and Verghese's real life is every bit as dramatic and riveting as his novel.