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Advance praise for The Spirit of the Place:
back
“What a deep pleasure to have a new novel from Samuel
Shem, raucous and insightful physician of the soul. This book captures a
town, a man, a time of life with all the verve and nerve that marked The
House of God. Hooray and about time!”
—Bill McKibben, author of The Bill McKibben Reader
“A deeply moving and profoundly intelligent exploration
of the complexities and rewards of family, profession and place. The story
of a young physician returning to his small town becomes a tale with universal
meaning. This book continues to resonate in the mind and heart long after
it is read.”
—Jerome Groopman, M.D., professor Harvard Medical
School, author of How Doctors Think
“The Spirit of the Place is written with
a large heart, a healing touch, wry and wise insight into the human condition.
Worthy of the best of Samuel Shem, which is worthy indeed.”
—James Carroll, author of House of War
“This tender novel probes the nuances of personal
and communal identity, how we struggle to escape, accept and exceed our past,
and the secrets, stratagems and dreams that we knowingly or not use to fuel
our life. Shem’s writing is lyrical, wise, and as always, very funny.”
—Jay Baruch, author of Fourteen
Stories
“In this lovely novel Samuel Shem brilliantly describes
scenery from the Italian Lakes to the Hudson River Valley with vivid enchanting
detail. But his real subject is the landscape of the human heart with its
dangers and delights, it's vertiginous cliffs and mossy woods, it's comforts
and contradictions. This is a wonderful book about the surprises of human
connection and the infinite power of love.”
—Susan Cheever
“As in The House of God and Mount Misery,
I was riveted by this story of a world-weary young doctor called to heal
the body and spirit of his ailing hometown—and of himself. The
Spirit of the Place is special—a grand, wonderfully insightful
story of love and death, mothers and sons, doctors and patients—filled
with larger than life characters and told with outrageous Shem-humor and
authentic humanity.”
—Michael Palmer, author of New York Times best-seller The
First Patient
“Samuel Shem captured the humor, the angst and pathos
of medical training in that unforgettable book, The House of God. His
new book is an incredible and heartfelt story of a physician whose life has
taken the most unexpected twists and turns. The Spirit of the Place entertains,
satisfies and affirms; it is beautifully conceived and brilliantly executed.
Shem has done it again!”
—Abraham Verghese, author of My Own Country and The
Tennis Partner