Rough Sleepers
by
84/99
Critics' Rating Index
88/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
89/99
Volume of Reviews
90/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
In Rough Sleepers, Tracy Kidder shows how one person can make a difference, as he tells the story of Dr. Jim O'Connell, a man who invented ways to create a community of care for a city's unhoused population, including those who sleep on the streets—the "rough sleepers." When Jim O'Connell graduated from Harvard Medical School and was nearing the end of his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital, the chief of medicine made a proposal: Would he defer a prestigious fellowship and spend a year helping to create an organization to bring health care to homeless citizens? Jim took the job because he felt he couldn't refuse. But that year turned into his life's calling. Tracy Kidder spent five years following Dr. O'Connell and his colleagues as they served their thousands of homeless patients. In this book, we travel with O'Connell as he navigates the city, offering medical care, socks, soup, empathy, humor, and friendship to some of the city's most vulnerable citizens. He emphasizes a style of medicine in which patients come first, joined with their providers in what he calls "a system of friends."
Reviews
"Kidder turns his meticulous but generous eye on Jim O'Connell."
"Tracy Kidder, a master of narrative nonfiction, is drawn to self-effacing, unsung heroes who work tirelessly to make the world a better place."
"Excellent and immersive ..."
"Kidder, to his credit, never gives short shrift to the larger context."
"Keenly observed and fluidly written, this is a compassionate report from the front lines of one of America's most intractable social problems."
"In Kidder's case, the result is that he never establishes the rapport with Tony that might enable him to probe deeply into key aspects of his experience."
"Jim O'Connell's Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People."
"A searching, troubling look at the terrible actualities of homelessness."
"O'Connell is a fascinating protagonist ..."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!