About

Michael Ruckenstein is a surgeon and novelist whose work is character driven and rooted in memory, family, and moral consequence. After decades of writing and editing medical texts and academic work, he turned his attention to creative fiction. His debut novel, Are You Sammy Stein?, draws on observation and lived experience to explore childhood and coming of age in 1970s Montreal. He is currently at work on his second novel, a medical psychological thriller.

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Michael has spent much of his life writing, first in the context of medicine and academic work, and more recently in fiction. His work is shaped by humor and memory, and by an interest in how internal and external forces influence character and choice.

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Are You Sammy Stein? began as a memoir written for family but evolved into a novel when early readers recognized its broader resonance. While informed by lived experience, the book is a work of fiction.

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In addition to writing, Michael maintains a creative practice in jewelry making, with a particular focus on stone setting and ring design. The patience and precision required by this work reflect skills developed through years of microsurgery. By profession, Michael is a professor and neurotologist at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Decades of academic writing and teaching have informed his discipline and clarity of thought, both of which continue to shape his creative work.

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Michael grew up in Montreal and later lived in Toronto, San Diego, and Memphis before settling in Philadelphia with his wife, Debbie. Together they have raised three children, are grandparents to two, and share their home with two golden retrievers.

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Academic and clinical affiliations

Penn Medicine provider profile

Perelman School of Medicine faculty profile

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