I read this on a snowy morning in one sitting. Written by a neurosurgeon who passed away last year, this is a short but very powerful book. Paul Kalanithi was a successful neurosurgeon when he was diagnosed with lung cancer in his thirties. In addition to his work in medicine, he also studied literature, and this memoir is a beautiful combination of the two fields. His words and story are poignant and hard to forget “The future, instead of the ladder toward the goals of life, flattened out into a perpetual present.”
“Rattling, heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful, the too-young Dr. Kalanithi’s memoir is proof that the dying are the ones who have the most to teach us about life.”—Atul Gawande
“A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity . . . Writing isn’t brain surgery, but it’s rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
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