Cutting for Stone (2009) is a novel written by Ethiopian-born Indian-American medical doctor and author Abraham Verghese.

With its positive reception, former United States president Barack Obama put it on his summer reading list and the book was optioned for adaptations.

He and his conjoined twin Shiva are born at Mission Hospital (called "Missing" in accordance with the local pronunciation), Addis Ababa, in September 1954.

Orphaned at birth, the pair grow up in the household of two physicians of Missing, both from Madras, the obstetrician Kalpana Hemlatha (Hema) and Abhi Ghosh, who fall in love while caring for the infants.

Focused on the repair of birth-related fistulas, he takes up his surgical training with Hema eschewing a formal medical education.

On his death bed, Ghosh has three wishes for Marion – to get the best medical education, to find Stone, and to forgive his brother.

Marion's encounter with his biological father redirects his life leading to a painful reconciliation and reunion with his estranged brother.

Other topics covered are depression, appendicitis, amputation, rickets, intestinal cancer, phlebitis, and intracranial hemorrhage.

[6] Erica Wagner gives a mixed review finding "the novel to be capacious, not to say baggy" and "tinged, albeit lightly, with a sense of magic".

"[7] However, John Irving wrote that "I've not read a novel wherein medicine, the practice of it, is made as germane to the storytelling process, to the overall narrative, as the author manages to make it happen here.

"[8] In 2011, President Barack Obama said he had chosen Cutting for Stone as one of the five books on his summer vacation reading list.

[9] In February 2012 it was announced that Susanne Bier has signed on to direct a movie version of Cutting for Stone.