Under The Knife

摘要

Surgery is a wonderful metaphor. Flexible and sharp, it can incise, expose, ex-enterate and heal. Abraham Verghese's first two books, "My Own Country" (1994) and "The Tennis Partner" (1999), were intelligent, sensitive examinations of health and disease, communication and loneliness; profound contemplations of the difficulty of life and the certainty of its loss. They brought him a wide following among readers of non-fiction, especially in America, where he now lives. Mr Verghesernis an internal-medicine specialist, but his latest work, his first novel, suggests that he dreams of the free flight of fiction and perhaps, secretly, of surgical glory.