My only gripe with this book is that it felt overly long when I reached the last twenty or thirty pages, but at the same time, that slow, slow, ending felt appropriate. The author's recovery at times almost seemed to be happening without movment. Almost as if she were inactively active, if that's possible. I am interested in Buddhism and how people practice its principals in every day life. This is a really rich, rich read. Ehrlich's uses beautiful language to weave her story with her experience of Buddhism, nature, and the medical world. Every doctor or doctor in training should be made to read about the "art" of medicine, as practiced by a physician she shadowed during her recovery.


In fact, I am giving this to a soon-to-graduate medical student. I don't know how often medical students meet physicians who factor in the human touch when precepting. Perhaps there are more opportunities to observe or practice quiet, gentle medicine as a resident or early in a career. Still, it can't hurt to be exposed to this story in print.