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When Breath Becomes Air

The powerful and moving memoir of a doctor, the global bestseller

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When Breath Becomes Air

By: Paul Kalanithi
Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra, Lucy Kalanithi
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

THE NEW YORK TIMES NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity – the brain – and finally into a patient and a new father.

What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when when life is catastrophically interrupted? What does it mean to have a child as your own life fades away?

Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

'Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option...Unmissable' New York Times

© Paul Kalanithi 2016 (P) Penguin Audio 2016

 Cancer Death & Dying Grief & Loss Medical Personal Development Physical Illness & Disease Professionals & Academics Relationships Sociology South Asian Creators Thought-Provoking Heartfelt Inspiring Surgery Medicine
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Critic reviews

A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living. (Nigella Lawson)
Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful. (Atul Gawande, author of BEING MORTAL)
Powerful and poignant.
Extraordinary...Remarkable... luminous, revelatory memoir about mortality and what makes being alive meaningful ... Lyrical, intimate, insistent and profound. Kalanithi had the mind of the polymath and the ear of a poet.
A stark, fascinating, well-written and heroic memoir. (Stefanie Marsh)
Exceptional. (Katie Law)
When I came to the end of the last flawless paragraph of When Breath Becomes Air, all I could do was turn to the first page and read the whole thing again. Searingly intelligent, beautifully written, and beyond brave, I haven't been so marked by a book in years. (Gabriel Weston, author of DIRECT RED)
A meditation on what makes a life worth living.
A powerful and compelling read.

Dr Kalanithi describes, clearly and simply, and entirely without self-pity, his journey from innocent medical student to professionally detached and all-powerful neurosurgeon to helpless patient, dying from cancer. He learns lessons about the reality of illness and the doctor-patient relationship that most doctors only learn in old age but Paul Kalanithi died at the tragically early age of 37.

Every doctor should read this book - written by a member of our own tribe, it helps us understand and overcome the barriers we all erect between ourselves and our patients as soon as we are out of medical school
All stars
Most relevant
I listened in one sitting. Really moving and emotive. I cried and smiled like a baby

Beautiful, poignant and meaningful

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In a (western) culture that mystifies death, and a world where life events are 'crafted' into perfection before blatantly exposing their untruths to the gullible via social media, this book is a breath of fresh air. Beautifully written; honest to its core; and moving in its ability to make you both cry and smile simultaneously, Paul K's literary legacy is a potent yet understated creation that quietly prompts the reader to value the blessing of life whilst also exploring, albeit theoretically, one's approach to our own demise. I can only hope, when my time arrives, that I am equally courageous and accepting - and that I, too, have family close at hand to hold me in their loving embrace as I make my transition to whatsoever comes next ...

Candid, caring, crucial ...

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Takes you through the thoughts, feelings and emotions of Paul Kalanithi, a surgeon and family man, approaching the untimely end of his life. It truly helps all listeners appreciate the importance of living a wholesome life. Thank you Paul for your honesty and courage, in writing this book.

Gripping, thought provoking listen

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a beautiful story beautifully written. Amazing view if how the doctor becomes a patient and how amazing he was.

beautiful

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Really moving story. The Performance could have been better but not impossible to listen to.

Very moving

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