First published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"Many of the contributors to Stories Matter are major players in [the] narrative movement. Here, they practice what they preach, building their essays on stories of patients...This collection provides a fascinating introduction to the field of narrative ethics. It points readers in myriad directions...It should prove useful to ethicists, health care professionals, patients' advocates, and patients themselves, as they collaboratively write a new story of ethical behavior." -- New England Journal of Medicine
"Stories Matter assembles a stellar cast of literary theorists and bioethicists to make the most systematic case yet for the importance of literary studies to humane, ethical medical practice. Bioethicists, medical humanists, and reflective clinical practitioners will find this a valuable addition to the rapidly growing literature on narrative ethics." -- Arthur W. Frank, author of The Wounded Storyteller: Body, Illness, and Ethics
"Stories have assumed an influential place in reshaping the morphology of contemporary biomedical ethics. Anyone interested in assessing the eventual place of narrative in moral reasoning and case consultation should read these essays." -- Edmund D. Pellegrino, editor of Jewish and Catholic Bioethics: An Ecumenical Dialogue
"The papers are thoughtful and careful, and advance the discussion of medical narratives
." -- Christian Perring, Dowling College, Long Island, Metapsychology Online Review

Rita Charon, M.D. is Associate Professor of Clinical Medicine at the College of Physicians and Surgeons and Director of the Program in Humanities and Medicine at Columbia University. Martha M. Montello is Associate Professor of History and the Philosophy of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical School.

Acknowledgements Introduction: Memory and Anticipation: The Practice of Narrative Ethics, Rita Charon and Martha M. Montello Part I: Narrative Knowledge 1. Narratives of Human Plight: A Conversation with Jerome Bruner, Jerome Bruner 2. The Ethics of Medicine, as Revealed in Literature, Wayne Booth 3. Like an Open Book: Reliability, Intersubjectivity, and Textuality in Bioethics, Laurie Zoloth and Rita Charon Part II: Narrative Components of Bioethics 4. Context: Backward, Sideways, and Forward, Hilde Lindemann Nelson 5. Voice in the Medical Narrative, Suzanne Poirer 6. Time and Ethics, Rita Charon 7. The Idea and Character, Anne Hunsaker Hawkins 8. Plot: Framing Contingency and Choice in Bioethics, Tod Chambers and Kathryn Montgomery 9. The Reader's Response and Why It Matters in Biomedical Ethics, Charles M. Anderson and Martha Montello Part III: Case Studies in Narrative Ethics 10. The Narrative of Rescue in Pediatric Practice, Walter Robinson 11. Beyond the Authoritative Voice: Casting a Wide Net in Ethics Consultation, Susan Rubin 12. Of Symbols and Silence: Using Narrative and Its Interpretation to Foster Physician Understanding, Marcia Day Childress 13. Narrative Understanding and Methods in Psychiatry and Behavioral Health, Richard Martinez 14. In the Abscence of Narrative, Julie Connelly Part IV: Consequences of Using Narrative Methods 15. Narrative Ethics and Institutional Impact, Howard Brody 16. Reconsidering Action: Day-to-Day Ethics in the Work of Medicine, John Lantos17. The Color of the Wallpaper: Training for Narrative Ethics, Anne Hudson JonesPart V: The Narrative Future of Ethics Practice 18. The Hyphenated Space: Liminality in the Doctor-Patient Relationship, Ronald Carson 19. Narrative Ethics, Gene Stories, and the Hermeneutics of Consent Forms, Larry Churchill 20. Narrative, Ethics, and Pain: Thinking with Stories, David Morries 21. The Story Inside, Joanne Trautmann Banks Notes on Contributors Permissions Index