He was born to Indian parents in Ethiopia and was expelled from the country of his birth after a military coup, making a home in his adopted country – the United States. His new book, Cutting for Stone, a work of fiction, takes him back to the geography that he knows best – that of Ethiopia. It’s a tale of twin boys born to an Indian nun and then raised by another doctor couple in the hospital.

Entertainment Weekly gave the book an “A” grade and said: “Verghese can write about the repair of a twisted bowel with the precision and poetry usually reserved for love scenes. The doctor in him sees the luminous beauty of the physician’s calling; the artist recognizes that there remain wounds no surgeon can mend.”

Part I: Writing fiction & practicing medicine; Verghese reads a from “Cutting for Stone.”:

Part II: Bringing the Humanities to the practice of medicine:

Part III: On Naveen Andrews as Dr. Verghese and what’s next:

Related reviews:

Washington Post: Healing the Past, A doctor’s search for his twin brother.

The Boston Bibliophile

The San Francisco Chronicle

Read the first chapter of his book in PDF format here.

Upcoming event:

The South Asian Journalists Association will be hosting a live webcast on Tuesday, Feb 17, 12:30-1:30 pm ET (see local time around the world: http://snurl.com/bim5l) with Verghese, who’ll be interviewed by Newsweek contributing editor Vibhuti Patel. Listen live, or later to a recording:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/saja/2009/02/17/Dr-Abraham-Verghese

Or call-in and talk to him at +1-347-324-5991.