The Tempest Book

This is a play by the literary giant George Bernard Shaw. Shaw was of course a advocate of liberal and socialist thought. He was also a good friend and sparring partner with one of my favorites, G.K. Chesterton. This play is about a doctor who has recently been knighted for his development of a cure of Tuberculosis. He has only enough time and resources to take on one more patient, and he is faced with the decision to cure a good but poor medical colleague or a talented artist who is a bit of a con-artist.

The play is comic and demonstrates his humor (or humour since he's British) and wit, but touches on very serious themes of morality, medical ethics, and socialized health care. Basically, what is pictured in this play are doctor's who are driven, not by patient care but by self-interest and profitability. Thus, it is a kind of indictment against capitalistic health-care systems. And for that reason, it feels as if it is as relevant today as it was originally in 1906.

I think you will enjoy it, even if ultimately you don't subscribe to its worldview.

(I listed to this as an audiobook performed by the L.A. Theater Co. I recommend it.)