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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

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)
All stars
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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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His combination of being a writer, a doctor, a philosopher and a tragically short life becomes a gift to us

Powerful story to make you savour life

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I loved this book. Paul honest and brave account of his life and death was a compelling read. What a remarkable human.

An honest look at life and death

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Read this book. It will impact how you view your allotment of time on this earth.

Beautifully heartwrentching

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This book is an unforgettable tale of life and death. Completely captivating and wonderfully written.

Mesmerising

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A fantastic, honest and thoughtful account of someone whose life was turned 180 degrees in one moment.

Kalanithi was a neurosurgeon with an exceptional career and life ahead of him. His personal life was facing some significant challenges, then a diagnosis comes along that changes his perspective on everything he had ever valued or wanted.

I really appreciated how frank Kalanithi was in the book. His wife Lucy comments that she appreciated Paul leaving in the marital struggles they weathered and that it was in character for him to name the beast that he was battling.

Kalanithi says in the book that he was a fan of literature; even if he hand't said so it would be hard to miss the plethora of influences in his writing. The words lift off the page into your heart in a way I've not experienced before. They take root and one feels themself being transformed in the reading and learning as Kalanithi does.

I listened to this read by Sunil Malhotra and it was the most moving performance I've yet to hear. Yes I know the material is already emotional, but Malhotra really elevates it with a reading that is at once pained and distraught while soft and resolved. Often there is a dissonance to me when listening to someone reading a book in the first person who I know hasn't written it, but Malhotra really embodies Kalanithi and becomes him.

This is a deeply moving and honest book, a fantastic reminder of the things that are really important in life. I'm indebted to Kalanithi and his family for sharing his story, warts and all.

Equally inspiring and heartbreaking

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