Most of us don't think much about hospitals unless we're watching a TV show filled with doctors who look like model/athletes, or because a major medical issue has stricken ourselves or a loved one. Tonight, skip the Scrubs rerun and visit The Booksmith, where two authors (one memoirist, one short story writer) will "take you behind the scenes at the hospital in very different ways."

Louise Aronson's an Associate Professor of Medicine and Director of the UCSF Medical Humanities Division. In her collection of short fiction, A History of the Present Illness, she "offers a deeply humane and incisive portrait of health and illness in America today," a portrait event organizers say could only be offered from the vantage point of doctor/writer.

In contrast, Elizabeth Scarboro's memoir My Foreign Cities tells the tale of Scarboro's experiences after marrying a man with a degenerative illness and poor prospects of surviving past his 30s. What's it like "caring for a painkiller-addicted transplant recipient"? You'll have to read her book, or come to tonight's event, to find out.

What: Authors Elizabeth Scarboro and Louise Aronson speak
When: 7:30 PM
Where: The Booksmith, 1644 Haight between Clayton and Cole
Cost: Free