Description

Book Synopsis

**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER**

'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal


What makes life worth living in the face of death?

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.

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.

'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson



Trade Review
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
A great, indelible book ... as intimate and illuminating as Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal,” to cite only one recent example of a doctor’s book that has had exceptionally wide appeal ... I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option ... gripping from the start ... None of it is maudlin. Nothing is exaggerated. As he wrote to a friend: “It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.” And just important enough to be unmissable. * New York Times *
Powerful and poignant. * The Sunday Times *
Less a memoir than a reflection on life and purpose… A vital book. * The Economist *

When Breath Becomes Air: The ultimate moving

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    Order before 4pm tomorrow for delivery by Thu 2 Jul 2026.

    A Paperback / softback by Paul Kalanithi

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      View other formats and editions of When Breath Becomes Air: The ultimate moving by Paul Kalanithi

      Publisher: Vintage Publishing
      Publication Date: 31/12/2018
      ISBN13: 9781529110944, 978-1529110944
      ISBN10: 1529110947

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      **THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER**

      'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal


      What makes life worth living in the face of death?

      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.

      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.

      'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson



      Trade Review
      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
      A great, indelible book ... as intimate and illuminating as Atul Gawande’s “Being Mortal,” to cite only one recent example of a doctor’s book that has had exceptionally wide appeal ... I guarantee that finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option ... gripping from the start ... None of it is maudlin. Nothing is exaggerated. As he wrote to a friend: “It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.” And just important enough to be unmissable. * New York Times *
      Powerful and poignant. * The Sunday Times *
      Less a memoir than a reflection on life and purpose… A vital book. * The Economist *

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