Summary

Twelve contemporary stories set in Rhode Island and New York City. Major themes include the pain of cultural dislocation and cross-cultural experience ("Theng," "Shambalileh," "My German Problem"); human frailty and self-deception ("Sleep," "Juilliard"); and the personal and moral dimensions of medical practice. See the separate annotations for Laundry, The Good Doctor and Ambulance--three stories which are particularly relevant to Literature and Medicine.

Commentary

This collection won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award of the University of Iowa Press in 1994. The author is a practicing physician in Rhode Island and a former concert violinist. While these stories are generally brief and incisive, they explore complex issues of character and motivation.

Publisher

Univ. of Iowa Press

Place Published

Iowa City, Iowa

Edition

1994

Page Count

123