The House of God

By: Samuel Shem

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

By turns heartbreaking, hilarious, and utterly human, The House of God is a mesmerizing and provocative journey that takes us into the lives of Roy Basch and five of his fellow interns at the most renowned teaching hospital in the country. Young Dr. Basch and his irreverent confident, known only as the Fat Man, will learn not only how to be fine doctors but, eventually, good human beings. Samuel Shem has done what few in American medicine have dared to do---create an unvarnished, unglorified, and amazingly forthright portrait revealing the depth of caring, pain, pathos, and tragedy felt by all who spend their lives treating patients and stand at the crossroads between science and humanity.

With over two million copies sold worldwide, The House of God has been hailed as one of the most important medical novels of the 20th century and compared to Sinclair Lewis's Arrowsmith for its poignant portrayal of the education of American doctors.

©1978 Stephen Bergman (P)2011 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fascinating." ( The Wall Street Journal)

Amazing

Best non-fiction book I've ever read: so real, so raw, & so true. I loved it!

exquisite and true

i loved loved loved this book. important for everyone, essential for medical students and residents.

Straight from the horse's mouth

I have too many relatives and friends working in the medicine, and everything in this book I already heard and it's factual. And there are even more going on and insanity is systematized at every level, not just at the hospitals.

Highly recommended!

Great book! The annotator does a fantastic job reading the book. For the physician trainees out there, recommend reading this after you complete your training.

Recumend

I am a medical professional paramedic firefighter and RPSGT. I could relate to the chaotic nuance of being a teacher, student and practitioner. Love this book.