(3 of 3)
5. My Own Country by Abraham Verghese (Simon & Schuster). When the physician- author arrived in the Appalachian town of Johnson City, Tennessee, in 1985, aids was an alien, virtually unknown, something that happened only to gays in New York City. But now the virus was beginning to kill in this isolated, staunchly religious community (72 churches), and Verghese, an expert on infectious diseases, had to deal with it. At the same time he had to fight the ignorance and prejudice of townspeople (transcriptionists would run away so as not to have to type up his examinations of homosexual patients). Verghese's descriptions of his patients and of his own frustration as a healer who could not heal are brilliant and extremely moving. An Indian Christian who was born in Ethiopia, Verghese brings strength and humility to his agonizing story. Fatigue and burnout are detectable here too, but his compassion and sorrow are an openhearted gift to his country, and to ours.
...And The Worst
Health Security Act
The Clinton Administration's health-care bill was a boffo concept, much needed by a nation whose health-care system is itself a systemless invalid. What could have been a stirring theme disappeared under 1,500 pages of turgid details. Wait for the mini-series.