‘A searing, deeply humane collection of essays about medical practice that has all the makings of a modern classic’

Acknowledgments
Among several people indispensable to this book, my research
assistant, Ami Karlage, comes foremost. She is whip smart and
insanely resourceful and had better ways she could have spent
three years of her life. But she helped research every chapter
here and was essential to my making this book as rich and ac-
curate as possible.
If Ami gave in breadth, my wife, Kathleen Hobson, gave
in depth. She has made my successes and failures her own. She
has pushed and encouraged this book and talked me through
my uncertainties and confusions about it. And she made writ-
ing it possible alongside everything else in our life together.
I also owe particular thanks to my friends Burkhard Bil-
ger, Henry Finder, Malcolm Gladwell, and David Segal. Four
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272
Acknowledgments
of the smartest people I know, they gave generously of their
time and energy in thinking through my ideas for this book. I
am lucky to have Henry as my editor at the 
New Yorker
, as
well—he not only midwifed the five chapters here that had be-
gun as magazine pieces but has been my closest mentor for
my writing career. The other essential person for that career
has been David Remnick, who has let me continue as a 
New
Yorker
staff writer despite having to accommodate the de-
mands of my surgical career. The opportunity to write for the
magazine means more to me than I can possibly say.
The great Sara Bershtel of Metropolitan Books was my
editor for 
Better
, as she was for 
Complications
. And she has
proved to be the kind of book editor one hears no longer ex-
ists: she cares deeply about writing and ideas, and she edits.
Her colleague Riva Hocherman also offered invaluable sug-
gestions. Both made this book better in every way.
My longtime friend Tina Bennett has also been, for the
past seven years, my agent, an arrangement that would ordi-
narily be considered dicey. But her judgment is impeccable.
She is indefatigable. And she has proved as wise and loyal in
her advocacy as an agent as she has in her devotion as a friend.
Several of the chapters began as articles I had written for
the 
New England Journal of Medicine
, and I am grateful to De-
bra Malina, Greg Curfman, Steve Morrissey, and Jeff Drazen
of the 
Journal
for their support, advice, and encouragement.
Finishing this book would not have been possible with-
out the understanding and support of my surgical colleagues,
in particular: Michael Zinner, the chief of surgery at Brigham
and Women’s Hospital; Stan Ashley, the chief of general sur-
gery at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates; and Francis
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Acknowledgments     273
“Chip” Moore, my surgical partner. Thank you also to Susan
Cramer, Shilpa Rao, and Katy Thompson of Brigham and
Women’s Hospital, Arnie Epstein of the Harvard School of
Public Health, and John Sterling of Henry Holt Publishing.
Finally, I want to give my deep thanks to the patients and
colleagues who appear, named and unnamed, in this book.
They gave me permission to try to tell their stories, and that is
the most generous and vital gift of all.
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