New York: Harper Collins, (1998) dj. SIGNED hardcover - "When Abraham Verghese, a physician whose marriage is unraveling, relocates to Texas, he hopes to make a fresh start as a staff member at a county hospital. There he meets David Smith, a medical student recovering from a drug addiction, and the two men begin a tennis ritual that allows them to shed their inhibitions and find security, in the sport they love and in each other. But when the dark beast that is David's addiction emerges once again, almost everything Verghese has come to trust and believe in is threatened. . . an unforgettable, illuminating story of how men live and how they survive." SIGNED on the title page. 345 pp. ISBN: 0-060174056.