Samuel Shem is the

pen-name A pen name, also called a ''nom de plume'' or a literary double, is a pseudonym (or, in some cases, a variant form of a real name) adopted by an author and printed on the title page or by-line of their works in place of their real name. A pen na ...

of the American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their ...

Stephen Joseph Bergman (born 1944). His main works are ''

The House of God ''The House of God'' is a satirical novel by Samuel Shem (a pseudonym used by psychiatrist Stephen Bergman), published in 1978. The novel follows a group of medical interns at a fictionalized version of Beth Israel Hospital over the course of ...

'' and ''Mount Misery'', both fictional but close-to-real first-hand descriptions of the training of doctors in the United States. Of

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

descent, Bergman was a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford, in the United Kingdom. Established in 1902, it is the oldest graduate scholarship in the world. It is considered among the world' ...

Balliol College Balliol College () is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. One of Oxford's oldest colleges, it was founded around 1263 by John I de Balliol, a landowner from Barnard Castle in County Durham, who provided th ...

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the Un ...

in 1966, and was tutored by

Denis Noble Denis Noble (born 16 November 1936) is a British biologist who held the Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford from 1984 to 2004 and was appointed Professor Emeritus and co-Director of Computational P ...

FRS, cardiac physiologist and later head of the Oxford Cardiac Electrophysiology Group. In an address to Dr. Noble's retirement party at Balliol, he related that Denis Noble's response to Bergman's attempt to become a writer was to ply him with copious sherry. He graduated from

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher ...

and

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools ...

. He was an intern at Beth Israel Hospital (subsequently renamed Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center) which inspired the book ''

''. As of 2017 Bergman is a member of the faculty of the

New York University School of Medicine NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island Schoo ...

NYU Langone Medical Center NYU Langone Health is an academic medical center located in New York City, New York, United States. The health system consists of NYU Grossman School of Medicine and NYU Long Island School of Medicine, both part of New York University (NYU), and ...

. Shem's play ''

Bill W. and Dr. Bob ''Bill W. and Dr. Bob'' is a play written by Stephen Bergman and Janet Surrey, published by Samuel French, Inc. The play will return to Off-Broadway after being produced in some thirty of the fifty United States, Australia, Canada, and England. ...

'' had an Off Broadway run at New World Stage in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. It ran for 132 performances and closed on June 10, 2007. ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' called it "An insightful new play." His works are: * ''

'' (1978) * ''Fine'' (1985) * ''Mount Misery'' () (1997) * ''

'' (play on

alcoholism Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol that results in significant mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognized diagnostic entity. Predomina ...

and the founders of Alcoholics Anonymous -

Bill W. William Griffith Wilson (November 26, 1895 – January 24, 1971), also known as Bill Wilson or Bill W., was the co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). AA is an international mutual aid fellowship with about two million members worldwide ...

and

Dr Bob Robert Holbrook Smith (August 8, 1879 – November 16, 1950), also known as Dr. Bob, was an American physician and surgeon who founded Alcoholics Anonymous with Bill Wilson (more commonly known as Bill W.). Family and early life Smith was bo ...

)(with Janet Surrey, 1990) * ''We Have to Talk: Healing Dialogues Between Men and Women'' (with Janet Surrey, 1999, ) * ''The Spirit of the Place'' (, June 2008) *
At the Heart of the Universe
' (2016) * ''Man's 4th Best Hospital'' (2019)

References

External links

Official website

Bill W. and Dr. Bob.
- Shem's off-Broadway show

- link to publisher's page {{DEFAULTSORT:Shem, Samuel 1944 births Living people Harvard Medical School faculty American psychiatrists Jewish American novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Massachusetts American Rhodes Scholars Alumni of Balliol College, Oxford Harvard Medical School alumni Harvard College alumni 20th-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century pseudonymous writers 21st-century American Jews