''Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story'' or simply ''Gifted Hands'' is an autobiographical book about the success story of Dr.

Ben Carson Benjamin Solomon Carson Sr. (born September 18, 1951) is an American retired neurosurgeon and politician who served as the 17th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 2017 to 2021. A pioneer in the field of neurosurgery, he ...

, a neurosurgeon and future politician, and his life going from a failing student to leading a team of surgeons in the first known separation of

conjoined twins Conjoined twins – sometimes popularly referred to as Siamese twins – are twins joined ''in utero''. A very rare phenomenon, the occurrence is estimated to range from 1 in 49,000 births to 1 in 189,000 births, with a somewhat higher incidence ...

joined at the back of the head. Co-written by Ben Carson and Cecil Murphey, ''Gifted Hands'' was adapted into a film of the same name by director Thomas Carter in 2009. In the film, Dr. Carson was portrayed by actor

Cuba Gooding Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appear ...

Plot

The book is based on the real events during the life of Dr. Carson. It is written in the first person and describes how Ben, an African-American boy from the

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

ghettos achieves success and fame as a world-class pediatric neurosurgeon. It begins when, at age 8, Ben's father leaves the family, forcing Carson’s mother, Sonya, to raise her two sons, Ben and Curtis, alone. The Carson family faces struggles in the next years. These include both financial struggles and his mother’s mental health issues. Carson then turns to his personal struggles in school and dealing with anger. He achieves excellent grades and enters

Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...

as a freshman in the premed program and continues to face challenges, including ongoing struggles for financial security and unexpected academic challenges. In his college years, Ben meets his future wife, Lacena (Candy) Rustin, with whom he shares a love of music and, eventually, commitment to the

Seventh-day Adventist Church The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbath, and ...

. Carson then focuses on his medical career. He tells how he returns to

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

for medical school, marries Candy, and then heads to

Johns Hopkins Johns Hopkins (May 19, 1795 – December 24, 1873) was an American merchant, investor, and philanthropist. Born on a plantation, he left his home to start a career at the age of 17, and settled in Baltimore, Maryland where he remained for most ...

for his neurosurgery residency and eventually becomes their youngest ever director of pediatric neurosurgery, in which position he continues beyond the period covered in the book. Turning his attention to his career as director of pediatric neurosurgery, Carson thinks back on key surgical advances that he made, using his “gifted hands” while relying on

God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...

’s guidance, most notably, the separation of two craniopagus

German twins German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

, the first such twins joined at the back of the cranium to both survive a separation.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (book) Biographies adapted into films Collaborative non-fiction books 1990 non-fiction books Autobiographies adapted into films African-American culture Autobiographies