In this heartbreaking and extraordinary first foray into fiction by Pulitzer Prize winning author of Arab and the Jew and The Working Poor, David K. Shipler has delivered a miniature masterpiece.
Gibson has learned to keep his spirits up as he receives care from his many doctors, nurses, and attendants. He likes to watch the bustling goings on in the ward from his hospital bed, crack witticisms, and make his caretakers smile—even when the news isn’t good. Gibson is an engineer, and he likes to understand how people work. When a young man gets placed in the bed beside his, hidden behind a paisley curtain, Gibson becomes privy to the intimate, private pains of his young neighbor’s life and forms with him the kind of fleeting human connection that will reverberate to the depths of his memory and soul.
A Vintage Shorts Original. An ebook short.
Praise for David Shipler and The Working Poor:
"Shipler writes with enormous grace." --The Nation
"This is clearly one of those seminal books that every American should read and read now." --The New York Times Book Review
"Essential.... Should be required reading not just for every member of Congress, but for every eligible voter." --The Washington Post Book World
“Sensitive, sometimes heart-rending.” --Commentary
David K. Shipler reported for The New York Times from 1966 to 1988 in New York, Saigon, Moscow, Jerusalem, and Washington, DC. He is the author of six books, including the bestsellers Russia and The Working Poor, as well as Arab and Jew, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He has been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has taught at Princeton, American University, and Dartmouth. He writes online at The Shipler Report.
View titles by David K. Shipler
In this heartbreaking and extraordinary first foray into fiction by Pulitzer Prize winning author of Arab and the Jew and The Working Poor, David K. Shipler has delivered a miniature masterpiece.
Gibson has learned to keep his spirits up as he receives care from his many doctors, nurses, and attendants. He likes to watch the bustling goings on in the ward from his hospital bed, crack witticisms, and make his caretakers smile—even when the news isn’t good. Gibson is an engineer, and he likes to understand how people work. When a young man gets placed in the bed beside his, hidden behind a paisley curtain, Gibson becomes privy to the intimate, private pains of his young neighbor’s life and forms with him the kind of fleeting human connection that will reverberate to the depths of his memory and soul.
A Vintage Shorts Original. An ebook short.
Reviews
Praise for David Shipler and The Working Poor:
"Shipler writes with enormous grace." --The Nation
"This is clearly one of those seminal books that every American should read and read now." --The New York Times Book Review
"Essential.... Should be required reading not just for every member of Congress, but for every eligible voter." --The Washington Post Book World
“Sensitive, sometimes heart-rending.” --Commentary
David K. Shipler reported for The New York Times from 1966 to 1988 in New York, Saigon, Moscow, Jerusalem, and Washington, DC. He is the author of six books, including the bestsellers Russia and The Working Poor, as well as Arab and Jew, which won the Pulitzer Prize. He has been a guest scholar at the Brookings Institution and a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and has taught at Princeton, American University, and Dartmouth. He writes online at The Shipler Report.
View titles by David K. Shipler
