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When Breath Becomes Air

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When Breath Becomes Air

By: Paul Kalanithi
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Sunil Malhotra
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About this listen

Tackling the agonizing transition from skilled surgeon to bewildered patient, When Breath Becomes Air is an unflinching account of what it means to be betrayed by the body you devoted your life to understanding.

The New York Times number-one best seller.

At the age of 36, 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 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.

©2016 Paul Kalanithi (P)2016 Random House AudioBooks Cancer Death & Dying Grief & Loss Personal Development Physical Illness & Disease Relationships Sociology South Asian Creators Inspiring Heartfelt

Critic Reviews

"Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.... Unmissable." ( New York Times)
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Meaningful and beautifully written, moved me at my core and showed a different way of looking at life. Short and great read.

Cried it was so beautiful

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This memoir by Dr Paul Kalanithi takes the reader on a short yet powerful journey through his illness, his mental stage and the last few years of his life!
Just finished it and I have no words, so not going to write more in this review!

Moving and powerful!

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Insightful, inspiring, touching and heartbreaking. Deserved of its position in a list of great books.

Moving

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This book is so beautifully written. Looking at this life experience from both sides ,very heartfelt and real

Beautiful

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A beautifully written and poignant memoir on the end of life journey. A life well lived, filled with love and gratitude. Highly recommended.

Brilliant

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