The Soul of Care

A moving memoir and an extraordinary love story that shows how an expert physician became a family caregiver and learned why care is so central to all our lives and yet is at risk in today’s world.
When Dr. Arthur Kleinman, an eminent Harvard psychiatrist and social anthropologist, began caring for his wife, Joan, after she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease, he found just how far the act of caregiving extended beyond the boundaries of medicine. In The Soul of Care: The Moral Education of a Husband and a Doctor, Kleinman delivers a deeply humane and inspiring story of his life in medicine and his marriage to Joan, and he describes the practical, emotional and moral aspects of caretaking. He also writes about the problems our society faces as medical technology advances and the cost of health care soars but caring for patients no longer seems important.
Caregiving is long, hard, unglamorous work–at moments joyous, more often tedious, sometimes agonizing, but it is always rich in meaning. In the face of our current political indifference and the challenge to the health care system, he emphasizes how we must ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves, and of our doctors. To give care, to be “present” for someone who needs us, and to feel and show kindness are deep emotional and moral experiences, enactments of our core values. The practice of caregiving teaches us what is most important in life, and reveals the very heart of what it is to be human.
“This is the story that may offer instruction and comfort to the 40 million family caregivers in the United States, and inspiration to clinicians struggling to go beyond diagnosis and treatment—to provide care.” —The Washington Post
“The Soul of Care is important. Its significance goes beyond medicine.” —New York Journal of Books
“Kleinman sensitively weaves the story of his late wife Joan’s early-onset Alzheimer’s disease with frank commentary on the decay of personalized patient care in this clear-eyed memoir…. Kleinman’s accessible discussion of patient care should appeal to a broad range of readers.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“[Kleinman] reminds us of the moral responsibility to provide care and describes care as the “human glue” which binds together families and communities. Beyond this connection, he contends that individual caregivers can discover purpose, revelation, and gratification in tending to others. Much more than a sad story about suffering, loss, and an inevitably downhill disease, Kleinman’s graceful narrative provides the sort of tonic that society sorely needs.” —Booklist (starred review)
“The Soul of Care will leave you shakenbut instructed, with an ethical imperativeand hopeful lessons regarding howbest to cultivate one’s humanity overthe course of a lifetime.” —Paul Farmer, MD
“An astute, affecting memoir, candid and prescriptive in equal measure.” —Stacy Schiff, Pulitzer Prize-winning author
“What was at stake for Arthur in his caring for Joan was nothing short of his humanity. Read this book and prepare to be both humbled and inspired.” —Jim Yong Kim, Former President of the World Bank