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 care giving extended beyond the boundaries of medicine. In the soul of care, he delivers a deeply inspiring story about what it means to grapple with illness from both sides, as an experienced doctor and a loving husband. Care giving is long, hard, unglamorous work - at moments joyous, more often tedious, sometimes agonizing, but always rich in meaning. Describing the practical, emotional and moral aspects of caring, kleinman explores how we must ask uncomfortable questions of ourselves and of our doctors. Poignant and honest, the soul of care is an uplifting story about what really matters in our lives.