In Stitches

Introducing In Stitches

Full of heart and humor, a memoir about becoming a doctor that’s unlike anything you’ve ever read before.

All Tony Youn ever wanted was to fit in. One of two Asian American kids in a small midwestern town, he was tall and thin with Coke bottle glasses, Hannibal Lecter headgear, a bowl cut, and a protruding jaw that grew even faster than his comic book collection. He finally got his chance senior year as he lay strapped in an oral surgeon’s chair having his jaw broken and reset—a brutal makeover that led him to his calling.

Egged on by his overachieving Korean father (“Doctor never get fired.”), Tony spent the next four years mired in the angst, flubs, triumphs, nonstop studying, intermittent heavy drinking, and sexual frustration of medical school. He entered a shy, skinny nerd with no nerve, no game, and no clue. He left a doctor.

Heartwarming and laugh out loud funny, In Stitches is a universal coming of age story about a kid who found the best in himself by bringing out the best in others and finally learned to be comfortable in his own skin.

In Stitches has been chosen as a 2012 Michigan Notable Book.


Note from Dr. Youn

IN STITCHES is my first book. It took me four years to write, sell, and publish. I am really proud of it. For some reason most doctors will not acknowledge that at the start of medical school they were awkward, queasy fawns who vomited outside the anatomy labs, fainted in…

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Reviews For In Stitches

Surprisingly warm and unquestionably witty, IN STITCHES is a riveting look at the sacrifice it takes to become a premiere plastic surgeon. In a world where physicians can be almost god-like, Dr. Tony’s not afraid to show us his heart, his humor, and his humanity. I adored In Stitches and even though I’m not ready to book Dr. Tony for a face-lift, I’d sure like to call him for lunch.
Jen Lancaster, NY Times Bestselling Author of Bitter Is The New Black.

Part ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ part ‘Nip-Tuck,’ IN STITCHES takes you under the knife to expose the layers of one doctor’s journey to become not only a plastic surgeon but also his own man. A humorous, heartfelt, honest memoir about med school and MCATs, fathers and sons, and finding your place in the world,IN STITCHES will tickle your funny bone, touch your heart and make you think differently about your doctor.
Wade Rouse, author of It’s All Relative and At Least in the City Someone Would Hear Me Scream.

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Excerpts From In Stitches

Prologue: The Face in the Ceiling

What a pair. Double D’s. Poking up at me like twin peaks. Pam Anderson, eat your heart out.

Too bad they’re attached to a fourteen-year-old boy.

I ease the black marker out of my lab coat pocket and start drawing on my first surgery patient of the day. Phil. An overweight African-American boy. Phil has severe gynecomastia—in layperson’s language, ginormous man boobs. Poor Phil. Bad enough being fourteen, awkward, and a nonathlete in a tough urban Detroit school. Now he has to deal with breasts?

Two weeks ago.

I sit in my office with Phil and Mrs. Grier, his grandmother. Phil lives with his grandma, who’s raised him since he was ten, when his mom died. He’s never known his dad. Mrs. Grier sits on a chair in front of my desk, her hands folded in her lap. She’s a large woman, nervous, well dressed in a light blue dress and matching shawl. Phil, wearing what looks like a toga, sits on a chair next to her. He stares at the floor. “It happened fast,” Mrs. Grier says. “He shot up, his voice got deeper, he started to shave.”…Read More


Deleted Scenes From In Stitches

I’m deep into my final clinical rotation: Pediatrics. Peeds, for short. Not my favorite. Or as my dad says, “Little people, little dollah!” But that’s not why I don’t love pediatrics. Treating a child is like treating Fido. The patient has no clue why he or she is here. Why is that mean person in the white coat hurting me? And after the mean person in the white coat hurts me, why does he give me a sticker or a…

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Doctor Musings

Huffington Post Interview: A Conversation with Author Dr. Tony Youn

Mike Ragogna: Tony, what drove you to write In Stitches?

Dr. Tony Youn: First time out, I decided to shoot for the stars. I set out to write the definitive book about growing up Asian-American, going through four years of medical school–all true, unadulterated, unfiltered, behind the scenes, warts and all–and becoming a doctor. I think, ultimately, In Stitches represents real life. Real life can be laugh-out-loud funny, shocking, heart-breaking, and heart-warming, that’s what I wanted In Stitches to be. I’m gratified by what readers and reviewers have said so far, they’ve called it “disarming,” “fast-paced,” “hilarious,” and “touching.” I’m very pleased and humbled by these descriptions because that’s what I was going for.

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In Stitches
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