Eric J. Cassell is an attending physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital, as well as Emeritus Professor of Public Health at Weill Cornell Medical College and Adjunct Professor of Medicine at McGill University. He retired from the active practice of internal medicine in 1998 after thirty-seven years. Cassell is the author of The Healer's Art, The Place of the Humanities in Medicine, Changing Values in Medicine, two volumes on doctor-patient communication entitled Talking with Patients and Doctoring: The Nature of Primary Care Medicine, The Nature of Healing, and The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine, now in its second edition. Cassell is a Fellow of the Hastings Center, Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and Master of the American College of Physician.

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"At a time of procedure-driven medicine that is scrutinized by insurance companies, this book is a breath of fresh air showing us how to get back to what medicine should be -- talking to patients. This is a book for everyone, from attending clinicians, to residents and housestaff, to students of all disciplines, as there is uncommon wisdom here. The book has a very free-flowing feel with the chapters focusing on a concept while being highly integrated. This is one of the best books I have read in the last year. It is engaging, thought-provoking, and kind. The quotations throughout make one delve deeper into the discussion and seek out the works mentioned. Ultimately, this should be part of every student curriculum in every discipline of medicine. Score: 100 - 5 Stars! (Perfect Score)" --Vincent F Carr, Doody's Health Science Book Review

"Cassell is a great listener and a natural storyteller. I hope that he will write a third volume in which he develops those stories more fully." -- John D. Lantos, The Hastings Center