CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
EN/FR
Search
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

My Own Country

1994 book by Abraham Verghese

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 22, 2026
Entity authoritySource title only
Source-derived summary

My Own Country: A Doctor's Story is a 1994 book by American doctor and author Abraham Verghese. The book is non-fiction, based on Verghese's own experiences in dealing with AIDS patients in East Tennessee in the early stages of the epidemic. A film adaptation commissioned by Showtime and directed by Mira Nair, starring Naveen Andrews as Verghese, aired on the network in 1998.

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “My Own Country” as 1994 book by Abraham Verghese. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Country, book and Abraham.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1994, 1998—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Country, book and Abraham providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “My Own Country”, the useful work is to connect “1994 book by Abraham Verghese” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 22, 2026. The first chronological checks are 1994 and 1998.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “My Own Country”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow My Own Country primary sources, My Own Country archive and Country research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “My Own Country”?
  2. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
  3. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “My Own Country” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.