Book Review: The Spirit of the Place

This is a wonderful book. I found two different book covers. No matter. They reprinted it. And rightly so.


Samuel Shem is the pen name of Stephen Bergman. I bought it awhile ago, and I think I heard about it on a radio program. I was waiting for a good time to read it. He is a well-educated man, a Rhodes Scholar, and it is a wonderful read.

There is a fine review here, by Steve Love,  which pretty much sums up the book: 

 The Spirit of the Place contains everything – and more – that author Samuel Shem became (in)famous for delivering in The House of God, his hilarious (unless you’ve ever had to visit a doctor), iconic novel about medical education and the healthcare it underpins.

Dr. Orville Rose is haunted by a blackmailing mother – dead, but not departed – who forces him to return to his hated hometown in order to gain his inheritance, find equilibrium and overcome what she believes is a greater capacity for selfishness and hatred than for love.

It is an important book for those who take death and dying too seriously.

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@Barrie Summy