{{Short description|2008 memoir by James Orbinski}} {{Infobox book | name = An Imperfect Offering | author = [[James Orbinski]] | language = English | genre = Non fiction, autobiography | pages = 448 | isbn = 978-1846041013 | image = An Imperfect Offering - book cover.jpg | subjects = [[Humanitarian aid]]<br>[[Humanitarian principles]]<br>[[Rwandan genocide]]<br>[[Médecins Sans Frontières]]<br>[[Somali Civil War]] }}
'''''An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action for the Twenty-First Century''''' is a 2008 memoir written by [[James Orbinski]] [[Doctor of Medicine|M.D.]], the former international president of [[Médecins Sans Frontières]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|date=2008-06-12|title=Review: An Imperfect Offering {{!}} The Walrus|url=https://thewalrus.ca/2008-06-book-review-2/|access-date=2021-12-25|language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Médecins Sans Frontières' James Orbinski discusses his 'imperfect offering'|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/james-orbinski-discusses-his-imperfect-offering|access-date=2021-12-25|website=montrealgazette|language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Dabrera|first=Gavin|date=October 2008|title=An imperfect offering: dispatches from the medical frontline|url=https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/laninf/PIIS1473309908702251.pdf|journal=[[The Lancet]]|volume=8|issue=10 |pages=600|doi=10.1016/S1473-3099(08)70224-X }}</ref>
The book expands upon points made by Orbinski in 1999 when he accepted the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] on behalf of Médecins Sans Frontières, specifically the importance of humanitarian organisations remaining independent from political forces.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/james-orbinski/an-imperfect-offering/|title=AN IMPERFECT OFFERING {{!}} Kirkus Reviews|language=en}}</ref>
== Plot summary == ''An Imperfect Offering'' starts with Orbinski's working class upbringing in [[Montreal]], and his decision to study medicine.<ref name=":1" />
The story follows Orbinski as he works in disease outbreaks and conflict zones around the world including in Afghanistan, Chechnya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Kosovo, Somalia, Sudan, and Zaire.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Apter|first=Simon Maxwell|date=2008-11-26|title=Best Political And Current Affairs Books Of 2008|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97281259|access-date=2021-12-25}}</ref> Orbinski is in charge of the Médecins Sans Frontières healthcare in Rwanda when the [[Rwandan genocide|1994 genocide]] occurs; the book documents horrific violence and Orbinski is scathing of the United Nations failed peacekeeping efforts.<ref name=":1" />
Throughout the book, Orbinski negotiates with warlords and avoids becoming a victim of the violence around him.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|last=Apter|first=Simon Maxwell|date=2008-11-26|title=Best Political And Current Affairs Books Of 2008|language=en|work=NPR|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97281259|access-date=2021-12-25}}</ref> The narratives stresses the importance that humanitarian organisations retain independence from political forces and publicly condemn human rights abuses.<ref name=":0" />
The final chapters of the book document Orbinski's time after his presidential term has ended and focus on global access to medicines. An Imperfect Offering critiques the pharmaceutical companies and regulatory environment they operate within for their failure to ensure that people in low income countries get the medicine they need.<ref name=":1" />
== Critical reception ==
[[NPR]] described ''An Imperfect Offering'' as one of their "Best Political And Current Affairs Books Of 2008" and described it as "unflinchingly apolitical."<ref name=":2" />
[[The Guardian]] described the book as extraordinary and yet unpretentious with "carefully weighed prose".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Marriott|first=Edward|date=2008-06-21|title=Review: An Imperfect Offering: Humanitarian Action in the Twenty-First Century by James Orbinski|url=http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/22/healthmindandbody.features|access-date=2021-12-25|website=the Guardian|language=en}}</ref>
== Awards == ''An Imperfect Offering'' won the 2008 [[Governor General’s Literary Award|Governor General's Literary Award]] for non-fiction.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Past GGBooks winners and finalists|url=https://ggbooks.ca/past-winners-and-finalists|access-date=2021-12-26|website=Governor General's Literary Awards|language=en}}</ref>
The book won the 2008 [[Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing]].<ref>{{Cite web|date=2008|title=James Orbinski|url=https://www.writerstrust.com/authors/james-orbinski/|website=Writers Trust}}</ref>
== See also == * [[Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma]], documentary * [[Shake Hands with the Devil (book)|Shake Hands with the Devil]] (book by [[Roméo Dallaire]] about the [[Rwandan genocide|Rwanda genocide]]) * [[Life on the Ground Floor: Letters from the Edge of Emergency Medicine|Life on the Ground Floor]] and [[Six Months In Sudan|Six months in Sudan]] (books by Médecins Sans Frontières doctor, [[James Maskalyk]]) * [[Hope in Hell (book)|Hope in Hell]], by Dan Bortolotti
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * [https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=97389227 Except from An Imperfect Offering via NPR] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20211225144915/https://www.ctvnews.ca/excerpt-an-imperfect-offering-by-james-orbinski-1.290524 Except from An Imperfect Offering via CTV]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Imperfect Offering, An}} [[Category:Canadian memoirs]] [[Category:Books about human rights]] [[Category:Literary autobiographies]] [[Category:2008 non-fiction books]] [[Category:Political autobiographies]] [[Category:Current affairs books]] [[Category:Books about Rwanda]] [[Category:Genocide education]] [[Category:Médecins Sans Frontières]]