Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story

Benjamin Solomon Carson, Sr. (b. September 18, 1951) is the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, as well as a 2016 presidential candidate, retired neurosurgeon, motivational speaker, and author of inspirational books. He earned a B.A. from Yale University and an M.D. from University of Michigan School of Medicine.

In his memoir, Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (1990), Carson and coauthor Cecil Murphey explore how Carson’s gifts from God, his mother and older brother’s influence, and his belief in God and himself allowed him to escape the Detroit ghetto and become a prominent neurosurgeon at Johns Hopkins, pioneering new techniques and performing life-saving brain surgery. Following a letter to readers from his mother and an Introduction by his wife, Carson recalls the key stages in his development, from the time he was eight until the peak of his neurosurgery career and launch of his work as an inspirational and motivational speaker and writer.

Starting with the moment that he learns, at age eight, that his father has left the family, leaving Carson’s mother to raise two sons alone, Carson discusses the challenges his family faces in the next years. These include both financial struggles and his mother’s mental health issues.