#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • This inspiring, exquisitely observed memoir finds hope and beauty in the face of insurmountable odds as an idealistic young neurosurgeon attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? NAMED ONE OF PASTE’S BEST MEMOIRS OF THE DECADE • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR … OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • People • NPR • The Washington Post • Slate • Harper’s Bazaar • Time Out New York • Publishers Weekly • BookPage
Finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir
At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student “possessed,” as he wrote, “by the question of what, given that all organisms die, makes a virtuous and meaningful life” into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, the most critical place for human identity, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.
What makes life worth living in the face of death? What do you do when the future, no longer a ladder toward your goals in life, flattens out into a perpetual present? What does it mean to have a child, to nurture a new life as another fades away? These are some of the questions Kalanithi wrestles with in this profoundly moving, exquisitely observed memoir.
Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.
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“Human knowledge is never contained in one person. It grows from the relationships we create between each other and the world, and still it is never complete.”
I just finished this book last night, and I already have plans to reread it. With so many beautiful insights about life and death, there’s no way I absorbed it all the first time around. Looking forward to picking it up again.
I read the first half of this book while in and out of airports on my way to Pittsburgh this weekend. So far it is without a doubt the saddest book I’ve ever read. I promise you’ll feel like crying (this book might even get @conrad). Multiple times I had to put the book down and take a break because my emotions had taken such a hammering. It is NOT a good book to read in public. That said, it is wonderfully written account of a doctor’s real life experiences with serious illness as a neurosurgeon and then as a patient himself. Between the sad stories, there are glimpses of the moments that make life meaningful. I almost always steer clear of books that make you feel this emotional but I would recommend checking this one out.
A memoir of a neurosurgeon’s residency and his discovery that he has cancer, this book is tragic, graceful, honest and fascinating. Dr. Kalanithi talks openly about the pressure doctors are under to obfuscate with patients, how mistakes are made, the grueling training required to become a neurosurgeon and the personal toll it takes. As his skills increase, so does his kindness and empathy as he faces patients and families with grave illness. The tragic irony is that, at age 36, he learns he has stage IV lung cancer. His desire to live battles with what he knows as a physician, and what he wants as a husband, father and son. But to me, the most powerful part of the book is the epilogue, written by Dr. Lucy Kalanithi, Paul’s wife. The grace, eloquence and strength of both husband and wife are nothing short of miraculous. This is a book I’ll never forget.
When Breath Becomes Air has changed my life. No, that’s not an extreme statement. When your perspective is broadened, your thinking changes, and your own way of living opens up for self-examination. All of this impacts how you move forward with your life…thus the change.
Paul Kalanithi’s memoir offers perspective about living in regards to the detached medical science of function, the philosophy and theology of being present, and the desperate need we all have to process and feel human emotion.
I am urged to view my physicians as emotional human beings and not the white coats with all (or none) of the answers. I am urged to show love and appreciation daily to my family. I am urged to confront my discomfort and make every effort to spend time and unfiltered conversation with the terminally ill. What true perspective we miss out on when we withdraw from the dying, but the true tragedy is how avoidance negatively impacts quality of life and authentic human connections. I loved this book.
This was a thought-provoking book that taught me much about the facts of neuroscience and cancer, but more importantly, about will and confronting death. I recommend it to anyone who needs inspiration through something tough.
I found this book to be helpful to prepare for the future. The doctor’s personal experience and educated point-of-view made it more viable for me. It made me think about my wishes for the final stage of my life and wonder about my loved ones preferences. I don’t fear death, but do recoil at the thought of a long illness, a health tragedy and/or financial destruction from medical expenses. This book will help with these dreadful experiences and it is better to read it BEFORE they occur.
Not an easy book to review, or indeed to read. It starts off with Kalanithi’s diagnosis – the unlikely occurrence of a man of 36 who (I assume) didn’t smoke, getting lung cancer. At the time, he and his wife were about to separate, but they came together again when he fell ill, and had a child, Cady, who was just 8 months old when he died.
The beginning of the book tells much about what led Kalanithi to become a neurosurgeon, and his search for meaning in his life – I enjoyed this part. Less so the mechanics of some of the work he did (not for the squeamish). Then comes his suspicion that he’s ill, the diagnosis and treatment. From the point of view of one who has known people who have died from and some who have recovered from cancer, I found the information about the treatments and his reaction to them, and the thoughts that went through his head, most interesting to read about.
What is so sad is that he didn’t know how much time he had left; in the end, it was less than perhaps he’d thought. The last section of the book is written by his wife, after he died, and it’s heartrending. Some reviews have said it’s the best part of the book; in some ways I agree.
It’s probably not one to read if you’re not in a good frame of mind, but I’m glad I did.
This is such a good story about a wonderful physician and his journey through cancer. The insights are priceless on how it feels to face the unknown.
Paul was an incredible man and physician….. a renaissance man. Young, brilliant and egocentric in the way surgeons are …. then comes his diagnosis. It is sad, incredible, and amazing all together. He and his wife, also a physician make some incredible decisions about Paul’s last days and how they should be lived. A must read….
Loved this book! I read it in one sitting, I do not do that often. I mentioned it to my husband and he loved it so much he bought a hard copy. This is really saying some thing he is very frugal! It is full of so much wisdom, wish there would be more books by this amazing man!
“When Breath Becomes Air” was an absolutely beautiful book which I re-read as soon as I finished reading it the first time. It is an intimate portrait of a young last-year resident in neurosurgery, who discovers he has Stage IV lung cancer and his very honest and (mostly) loving relationship with his wife. The author’s decision to fight his disease and be a caring person to his patients, as well, is particularly awe-inspiring. He is an amazing writer with an unusual gift with words. Even though the book ultimately has a sad ending, the reader is left thinking she holds a treasure in her hands.
Paul Kalanithi spent the latter part of his childhood enjoying the wildlife of the Arizona desert, complete with poisonous spiders and rattlesnakes, after his father moved his cardiology practice from New York.
Although Paul’s elder brother and an uncle were also physicians, he chose a more circuitous route to medicine, via Neuroscience and English Literature. He highlights the tremendous dedication needed to become a doctor, often working 100 hours per week as a resident in Neurosurgery, and eating ice cream sandwiches accompanied by diet coke for lunch!
Although he chose to continue his studies, other talented doctors left medicine for less stressful jobs.
Unfortunately, stage IV lung cancer stopped him in his tracks as he neared completion of his Neurosurgery residency. However, he and his wife Lucy decided to harvest his sperm and the resulting embryos before his treatment program began. They are blessed with the birth of their daughter Cady.
Paul contemplates life as a patient vs life as a physician, yet he writes at a distance from his emotions, perhaps the only way he knew how to cope with his tragic prognosis. Partway through his treatment, he returns to his career in Neurosurgery hoping to complete his residency. Sadly, his health deteriorates and he slips into death, only a few precious months spent as a devoted father.
Although the book is well written and thought provoking, the most poignant chapter was The Epilogue, written by Lucy after his passing.
What a wonderful physician he must have been-he strove to understand and listen to his patients. His wife did a beautiful job completing the book
This is the author’s own story. Paul is a promising neurosurgeon who finds out he has stage IV lung cancer. The future he and his wife imagined together evaporated. Now his life is full or treatments, and a ticking clock. The doctor’s won’t tell him how long he has to live, so Paul starts to write this book. He and his wife decide to have a child even knowing that he might not be there to see her grow up. They try to squeeze a lifetime of experiences into a small amount of time.
Paul died in 2015 – after a very short battle with cancer. His wife completed his book and made sure it was published.
This was a good book. It is always sad, and alarming, to read the words of someone who is going through a terminal illness. How they become shadows of their former selves. And how sometimes, no matter how hard they fight, sometimes the cancer wins.
Check out this book. It gives some perspective on how we are only given a finite amount of time.
For over two decades a particular book held the highly coveted all-time-favorite-book place in my heart. In one fell swoop, WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR single-handedly took its place. Each word chosen with tremendous care, the writing is exquisite. A call to action, the reader can’t help but sit down and carefully examine the nooks and crannies of their essence to discover what it is—exactly—that gives their individual life meaning. A call to action, this book is going to change your life!
This true-life story of doctor battling against cancer is touching and not as sentimental as you’d think. He is first and foremost a doctor, and he tried, as much as possible, to write objectively about his experiences.
An amazing autobiography of a doctor turned patient that gives glimpses into each of his worlds. When Dr. Kalanithi is nearing the end of a grueling neurosurgery residency, he learns that he has advanced lung cancer. How he deals with his roles as doctor, patient, husband and father makes for inspiring reading.
Excellently written with so much emotions especially for the reader.
When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi is a powerful work of non-fiction that charts the author’s journey from neurosurgeon to cancer patient.
The book is beautifully and simply penned, as if the author were addressing a dear friend and not writing a book. The result is that by the end of the book, the reader feels like they have lost a dear friend.
There is a genuine feeling of loss – of what Paul Kalanithi could have achieved as a surgeon, of his daughter and wife having their years ahead without him. But there is also a feeling of celebration, too – Paul Kalanithi left behind a legacy of love – love in the hearts of his family, colleagues and patients.
The first half of the book introduces the reader to Paul Kalanithi the surgeon. He is not a surgeon without empathy, he treats every patient he meets as a person. “I had met her in a space where she was a person, instead of a problem to be solved.”
Paul Kalanithi recognized the need to connect with his patients. They needed his skill set as a surgeon and they needed his words as a fellow human being. “When there’s no place for the scalpel, words are the surgeon’s only tool.”
The second half of the book is Paul Kalanithi’s life as a patient. We witness his acceptance, his bravery and his determination. We see his love for his wife, daughter and family.
The final chapter is written by Paul Kalanithi’s wife Lucy. We see her love for her husband and daughter.
Paul Kalanithi was a remarkable person. He loved literature. He loved medicine. He loved his wife and daughter. He lived a life of love. He left a legacy of love.
I just had to read this book because I wanted to see what is both literary enough to be a Pulitzer Prize finalist and mainstream enough to be a New York Times Bestseller. I soon got my answer. The writing is breathtaking and the story is heartbreaking while still inspirational. Excellent read.