"This book was an argument as much as woven-together stories"
with Dr. Ricardo Nuila author of 'The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine'
#NuevasPáginas is a space that aims to amplify and spotlight Hispanic/Latine/x authors with newly published books. The goal is to connect readers to their next favorite Hispanic/Latine/x authored book through a mini casual get-to-know-the-book-and-author interview. So please help me connect to more readers. So that together we can continue to build the love/support of Latine literature!
Hey Book Franz,
I bet you didn’t expect to see me in your inbox on a Friday evening! But I am avoiding having to finish up a piece I have been working on for a long time….so here we are haha. I also wanted to let you know I am going to try and push out as many interviews as possible these next few weeks before we say goodbye to 2023. So prepare yourself and your TBR accordingly because I’m coming at you with some amazing authors.
Take today’s featured author for example, I had the chance to read his book earlier this year, and it has stuck with me. I think of it often and I wish more people were talking about it/reading it. I often wonder why it is that certain books make lists and get praise while others don’t. There are many reasons why especially if it’s a book by a Latine author or a BIPOC author. I mean, I’d need a whole long newsletter issue to break it down and even then, I’m sure there are tons I don’t know about publishing and book marketing that might contribute to the reason why some books get amplified while others don’t. That said, I’m glad I’m here pushing these interviews out because Latine authors deserve their time to shine.
What is Lupita reading this week?
It should be more like…..why isn’t Lupita reading anything this week?….and the answer is I dunno! I think I might be burned out or worried about all the books I should be reading but can’t get to fast enough or maybe its the state of the world and so much violence and pain or maybe it’s everything. Either way, I’m going to try and not sweat it. I hope you give yourself love and grace if you aren’t reading but you wish you were reading! You’ll get back there <3
Without further ado, our special guest author for today’s Nuevas Pagina issue is…Dr. Ricardo Nuila author of ‘The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine’…………..
Could you tell me a bit about where this photo was taken? Is it special to your book in some way?
This is taken inside my home, where I moved at the beginning of the COVID pandemic. The four of us–including our two young kids–lived in a small house with one bathroom for years because I insisted I had to finish my book before we moved. When a friend told me that moving had helped her finish her book (after writing it for seven years), I pulled the trigger. Lo and behold, that’s exactly what helped me finish. We also contracted COVID during the actual move–nothing in life is easy–but thankfully none of us became seriously ill.
Tell me about your book without telling me about your book - share any literary inspirations behind your book! If there are none, the gap you wanted to fill in the literary canon with your book
I wanted to describe things the way Rachel Cusk does in her Outline Trilogy. I wanted readers to feel as close to real people as they did in Random Family by Nicole Adrian Leblanc. The subject matter can be heavy, so I appreciated the light touches and humor used in Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses. Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson gave me an idea how to relay the injustices suffered by others while using a first person perspective. I listened over and again to Lou Reed’s songs about the poor and those shunned from society. Chekhov–a doctor-writer who almost never writes explicitly about medicine–avoids sounding overserious while giving his characters and subjects the proper gravity; he’s definitely an inspiration. Once I took it seriously that this book was an argument as much as woven-together stories, reading James Baldwin helped immensely.
What are some conversations you hope your book starts?
“Mami, did you get that thing checked out? Want me to take you to a primary care doctor this coming week?”
“Bueno, mija.”
And…
“Where does your candidate stand on public healthcare and making sure everyone’s covered?”
“Not sure, who are you voting for?”
Seriously. It might sound naive, but I hope this book awakens readers to how they have a hand in their own healthcare issues (and those of their loved ones) and that the only way to get out of this stranglehold corporations have us in is democratically, by voting.
What was something you learned while writing your book? In what ways did it change you?
I learned that the type of medicine I practice today (“allopathic medicine”) started off in post-Revolutionary War America as a small collective belief system–think EMDR or ASMR today–and grew into the mega-industry we know presently in large part because its believers were puritanical and cutthroat and didn’t allow for any cross-pollination of beliefs. It made me recognize that it’s in Western medicine’s DNA to eschew treatments like acupuncture or ayurvedic medicine–even EMDR or ASMR–and that it was up to me to weigh these outside treatments alongside the medicine I’ve learned.
If a book was home, where would your home be?
Home home would be The Largesse of the Sea Maiden by Denis Johnson, which I read every year or so. It’s like a Magritte hanging in your living room: it’s cozy and comforting to know nobody else could ever write like this. Second home–let’s say this is in Lago de Atitlan, Guatemala-–would be The Story of a New Name, the second book of Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan series. The history, the adolescence, the competition, the ambition, the sex, the smell of salami in that last scene–all of it is befitting of a second home.
If your book was a famous musician who would it be?
Neil Young, while he recorded Unplugged. My book is a story and an argument wrapped in one about the world’s dangers, the people who exploit those dangers, and how we, as a community, can help everyone cross the rio crawling with lagartos if we just gave it ganas. It’s a message I hear in all of Canadian Neil’s stuff, particularly older Neil.
What comfort food could a reader pair with your book?
A good arroz con pollo from Puerto Rico. A patient of mine brought me some in the hospital once and, man, every single person on the unit was jealous and tried to coax me into giving them some that day. I ate it all. De chuparse los dedos.
In what ways has access (or little to no access) to Hispanic/Latinx/e literature defined you as a writer?
I read the masters–Garcia Marquez, Bolaño, Cristina Rivera Garza–in English, something that sticks with me and makes me feel rather gringo-ish and possibly like a sellout. At some point during my childhood, my brain decided that English was the language for me and that Spanish came second. The result is that I’ve been able to accommodate other languages into English, including the medical language. In my book, I often use the medical language for effect, not unlike the way I use Spanish.
Where can readers keep up with your work?
I keep a running tab on my newly revamped website: ricardonuila.com
I’m getting more active (and better!) at Twitter: @riconuila
I’m learning Instagram: riconuila
I’m considering a substack…
Thank you to Dr. Ricardo Nuila for taking the time to chat with me about his book! Please please make sure you purchase a copy (or request your local library carry a copy) #SupportLatinxLit!
Dr. Ricardo Nuila is a writer, teacher, and practicing doctor. He is an associate professor of medicine, medical ethics, and health policy at Baylor College of Medicine, where he directs the Humanities Expression and Arts Lab [HEAL] program.
Synopsis for “The People's Hospital: Hope and Peril in American Medicine”:
Here, we follow the lives of five uninsured Houstonians as their struggle for survival leads them to a hospital that prioritizes people over profit. First, we meet Stephen, the restaurant franchise manager who signed up for his company's lowest priced plan, only to find himself facing insurmountable costs after a cancer diagnosis. Then Christian--a young college student and retail worker who can't seem to get an accurate diagnosis, let alone treatment, for his debilitating knee pain. Geronimo, thirty-six years old, has liver failure, but his meager disability check disqualifies him for Medicaid--and puts a life-saving transplant just out of reach. Roxana, who's lived in the community without a visa for more than two decades, suffers from complications related to her cancer treatment. And finally, there's Ebonie, a young mother whose high-risk pregnancy endangers her life. Whether due to immigration status, income, or the vagaries of state Medicaid law, all five are denied access to care. For all five, this exclusion could prove life-threatening.
Each patient eventually lands at Ben Taub, the county hospital where Dr. Nuila has worked for over a decade. Nuila delves with empathy into the experiences of his patients, braiding their dramas into a singular narrative that contradicts the established idea that the only way to receive good health care is with good insurance. As readers follow the moving twists and turns in each patient's story, it's impossible to deny that our system is broken--and that Ben Taub's innovative model, where patient care is more important than insurance payments, could help light the path forward.