Rough Sleepers: Dr. Jim O’Connell’s Urgent Mission to Bring Healing to Homeless People

"Dr. Jim O’Connell has been treating unhoused people in Boston for more than three decades, and he hasn’t worked himself out of a job yet. On the contrary, the job is bigger than ever – not only in Boston but in nearly every American city. Nevertheless, I found Tracy Kidder’s book about O’Connell and his Sisyphean work surprisingly uplifting. The onetime bartender is both cleareyed and compassionate toward his patients – people who are ignored by so many others. His work might be a Band-Aid on the bigger problem of homelessness, but as he says, “This is what we do while we’re waiting for the world to change.”"