My Own CountryMy Own Country
Score Modern
What it's about
In the mid-1980s Abraham Verghese, an Indian doctor raised in Ethiopia, took a job as an infectious disease specialist in Johnson City, a small town in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He expected a quiet practice. Instead, AIDS arrived, as young men who had left for the cities came home to die, and he became their doctor, and a part of their families' lives.
Why it's worth reading
It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It's a tender, honest memoir of medicine, by the later author of Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water.
You'll love it if you liked
And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic
Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
When Breath Becomes AirGood to know
It describes many deaths and the strain on Verghese's own marriage.
By the numbers
- Readers85 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics24 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller4 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #171 of the 290 memoirs and biographies we rank
- #599 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1140 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
True story
More by Abraham Verghese
The Covenant of Water
Cutting for StoneIf you like this, read next
Between the World and Me
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Educated: A Memoir
The Passage of Power
American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North KoreaExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is My Own Country worth reading?
Yes. It was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It ranks #1,140 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 71.4 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is My Own Country about?
In the mid-1980s Abraham Verghese, an Indian doctor raised in Ethiopia, took a job as an infectious disease specialist in Johnson City, a small town in the mountains of eastern Tennessee. He expected a quiet practice. Instead, AIDS arrived, as young men who had left for the cities came home to die, and he became their doctor, and a part of their families' lives.
How long does it take to read My Own Country?
About 10 hours (416 pages), or about 3 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after My Own Country?
If you liked it, try And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic by Randy Shilts, Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande or When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi.