The praise for Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese is off the charts. Dozens of people I know call it their favorite book of the year. Even more call it an outstanding novel.

The story is great. Brilliant, in fact. And the cast of characters is outstanding. But can somebody please find Verghese an editor? I mean really — 657 pages to tell this story is ridiculous. It is massive overkill. Wordy beyond belief. Somewhere around page 100 I was crying for Hemingway, and by page 300 I was ready to turn to the last chapter and find out what happens. I appreciate detail, but do I really need pages of detail about a specific surgical procedure? No, especially when it adds nothing to the storyline.

Now don’t get me wrong. It’s a great story. Wonderful characters. The book deserves a lot of the praise that it has received and I fully expect it to win more acclaim. But it could be even better if it were half the length.