On the Fringe is a deeply-moving memoir, a reflective and soul-baring account of the author's extraordinary journey as a professional who helped people from dying of AIDS, cholera, and other diseases across the globe. As an anthropologist, Green worked on every inhabited continent, giving the reader an on-the-ground look at how we aid developing nations. Chapters take readers to one exotic locale after another, describing gypsies in Montenegro, sex workers in Tanzania, disease researchers in Bangladesh, spirit mediums in Africa, and Samaritans in Palestine.

Though highly successful throughout his career, Green was plagued since childhood with insecurity, rebellion, and at times frightening depressions. Coming from a highly-privileged background—his father was an Assistant Secretary of State—his inner demons began, at an early age, to tell him he was no damned good, a fraud, and a failure. Anyone who has ever fallen victim to "the imposter syndrome" will relate to the author's lifelong struggle to overcome feelings of anxiety and incompetence and embrace his achievements.