Accidental Kindness

Michael Stein, M.D., is award-winning author of six novels and four books of nonfiction, most recently Broke: Patients Talk About Money with Their Doctor. He is professor of health policy at the Boston University School of Public Health and executive editor of PublicHealthPost.org.
For more information about Michael Stein, visit the Author Page.

"[Stein's] incisive articulation of the emotional challenges faced by doctors is rendered in prose that's vivid, candid, and shot through with compassion—it makes for an investigation that's tough to forget. This is a standout."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Stein’s candour, curiosity and ethical engagement admit us to a different realm from the fast-paced medical narratives we’re used to reading. He refuses to simplify. Can kindness be taught? Should it be taught? And what is kindness in the first place? Stein may be guiding us toward a Socratic impasse, but, as with Platonic dialogues, we learn a great deal along the way."—Rachel Hadas, The Times Literary Supplement

“An important addition to the canon of publications by physician writers as health care moves toward a greater understanding of the need for empathy and kindness toward our patients, but also toward ourselves as health care workers.”—Annals of Emergency Medicine

"An important addition to the canon of publications by physician writers as health care moves toward a greater understanding of the need for empathy and kindness toward our patients, but also toward ourselves as health care workers."—Annals of Emergency Medicine

“Gratifying and gut-wrenching. Interesting and intense. Stimulating and stressful. . . . While practicing physicians are the intended primary audience for Accidental Kindness, all types of healthcare professionals—nurses, dentists, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, pharmacists, and mental health workers—should find the book instructive, comforting, and insightful.”—Journal of Medical Humanities

"With refreshing candor and page-turning prose, Stein dives deep into his own experience as a medical student, internist, son, and patient to look at the ways that doctor-patient interactions can influence care and patient outcomes, and what happens when doctors make mistakes. One of the most powerful, honest, and insightful books I've read by a doctor."—Belle Boggs, author of The Art of Waiting: On Fertility, Medicine, and Motherhood