Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End by Atul Gawande

Notes From Your Bookseller This book was all the talk of 2017, and it hasn't lost any of its relevance. Written by a practicing surgeon, it dissects the cross section of medicine and mortality, where they butt heads, and the inevitability of death. #1 New York Times Bestseller In Being Mortal, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering. Gawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified. Full of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, Being Mortal asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end. Editorial Reviews A Barnes & Noble Best Book of 2014 In his years as a surgeon, Gawande dedicated himself to doing whatever he could to save patients' lives. But he also came to understand that there are limits to what medicine can do, and, perhaps, what it should do. In this heartfelt work, Gawande offers hard-won perspective on elder care, end-of-life treatments, and hospice practice. In the end, he argues, what truly matters is using medicine to offer comfort, and helping patients to face death on their own terms, in peace and with dignity. See all of the Best Nonfiction Books of 2014. - Gawande writes that members of the medical profession, himself included, have been wrong about what their job is. Rather than ensuring health and survival, it is to enable well-being. If that sounds vague, Gawande has plenty of engaging and nuanced stories to leave the reader with a good sense of what he means...Being Mortal is a valuable contribution to the growing literature on aging, death and dying. It contains unsparing descriptions of bodily aging and the way it often takes us by surprise. Gawande is a gifted storyteller, and there are some stirring, even tear-inducing passages here. The writing can be evocative...The stories give a dignified voice to older people in the process of losing their independence. We see the world from their perspective, not just those of their physicians and worried family members. - The New York Times Book Review - Sheri Fink I never expected that among the most meaningful experiences I'd have as a doctor-and, really, as a human being-would come from helping others deal with what medicine cannot do as well as what it can, [Gawande] writes. Being Mortal uses a clear, illuminating style to describe the medical facts and cases that have brought him to that understanding. - The New York Times - Janet Maslin A deeply affecting, urgently important book--one not just about dying and the limits of medicine but about living to the last with autonomy, dignity, and joy. - Katherine Boo American medicine, Being Mortal reminds us, has prepared itself for life but not for death. This is Atul Gawande's most powerful--and moving--book. - Malcolm Gladwell Beautifully written . . . In his newest and best book, Gawande . . . has provided us with a moving and clear-eyed look at aging and death in our society, and at the harms we do in turning it into a medical problem, rather than a human one. - The New York Review of Books Powerful. - New York Magazine Being Mortal, Atul Gawande's masterful exploration of aging, death, and the medical profession's mishandling of both, is his best and most personal book yet. - Boston Globe Beautiful. - New Republic A needed call to action, a cautionary tale of what can go wrong, and often does, when a society fails to engage in a sustained discussion about aging and dying. - San Francisco Chronicle Being Mortal left me tearful, angry, and unable to stop talking about it for a week. . . . A surgeon himself, Gawande is eloquent about the inadequacy of medical school in preparing doctors to confront the subject of death with their patients. . . . it is rare to read a book that sparks with so much hard thinking. - Nature Masterful . . . Essential . . . For more than a decade, Atul Gawande has explored the fault lines of medicine . . . combining his years of experience as a surgeon with his gift for fluid, seemingly effortless storytelling . . . In Being Mortal, he turns his attention to his most important subject yet. - Chicago Tribune We have come to medicalize aging, frailty, and death, treating them as if they were just one more clinical problem to overcome. However it is not only medicine that is needed in one's declining years but life--a life with meaning, a life as rich and full as possible under the circumstances. Being Mortal is not only wise and deeply moving, it is an essential and insightful book for our times, as one would expect from Atul Gawande, one of our finest physician writers. - Oliver Sacks New York Times Bestseller Washington Post 10 Best Books of 2014 Apple iBooks 10 Best of 2014 New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books of 2014 NPR Best Books of 2014 Amazon 2014 Best Books of the Year: The Top 100 Chicago Tribune Best Books of 2014 　　 Illuminating. -Janet Maslin, The New York Times 　 Being Mortal, Atul Gawande's masterful exploration of aging, death, and the medical profession's mishandling of both, is his best and most personal book yet. -Boston Globe American medicine, Being Mortal reminds us, has prepared itself for life but not for death. This is Atul Gawande's most powerful-and moving-book. -Malcolm Gladwell Beautifully crafted . . . Being Mortal　is a clear-eyed, informative exploration of what growing old means in the 21st　century . . . a book I cannot recommend highly enough. This should be mandatory reading for every American. . . . it provides a useful roadmap of what we can and should be doing to make the last years of life meaningful. -Time.com Masterful . . . Essential . . . For more than a decade, Atul Gawande has explored the fault lines of medicine . . . combining his years of experience as a surgeon with his gift for fluid, seemingly effortless storytelling . . . In Being Mortal, he turns his attention to his most important subject yet. -Chicago Tribune Beautifully written . . . In his newest and best book, Gawande . . . has provided us with a moving and clear-eyed look at aging and death in our society, and at the harms we do in turning it into a medical problem, rather than a human one. -The New York Review of Books Powerful. -New York Magazine Atul Gawande's wise and courageous book raises the questions that none of us wants to think about . . . Remarkable. -John Carey, The Sunday Times (UK) A deeply affecting, urgently important book-one not just about dying and the limits of medicine but about living to the last with autonomy, dignity, and joy. -Katherine Boo Dr. Gawande's book is not of the kind that some doctors write, reminding us how grim the fact of death can be. Rather, he shows how patients in the terminal phase of their illness can maintain important qualities of life. -Wall Street Journal (Best Books of 2014) Being Mortal left me tearful, angry, and unable to stop talking about it for a week. . . . A surgeon himself, Gawande is eloquent about the inadequacy of medical school in preparing doctors to confront the subject of death with their patients. . . . it is rare to read a book that sparks with so much hard thinking. -Nature 　 We have come to medicalize aging, frailty, and death, treating them as if they were just one more clinical problem to overcome. However it is not only medicine that is needed in one's declining years but life-a life with meaning, a life as rich and full as possible under the circumstances. Being Mortal is not only wise and deeply moving, it is an essential and insightful book for our times, as one would expect from Atul Gawande, one of our finest physician writers. -Oliver Sacks Gawande's book is so impressive that one can believe that it may well [change the medical profession] . . . May it be widely read and inwardly　digested. -Diana Athill, Financial Times (UK) Eloquent, moving. -The Economist (Best Books of 2014) A great read that leaves you better equipped to face the future, and without making you feel like you just took your medicine. -Mother Jones (Best Books of 2014) Beautiful. -New Republic Gawande displays the precision of his surgical craft and the compassion of a humanist . . . in a narrative that often attains the force and beauty of a novel . . . Only a precious few books have the power to open our eyes while they move us to tears. Atul Gawande has produced such a work. One hopes it is the spark that ignites some revolutionary changes in a field of medicine that ultimately touches each of us. -Shelf Awareness (Best Books of 2014) A needed call to action, a cautionary tale of what can go wrong, and often does, when a society fails to engage in a sustained discussion about aging and dying. -San Francisco Chronicle - From the Publisher 2014-07-14 A prominent surgeon and journalist takes a cleareyed look at aging and death in 21st-century America. Modern medicine can perform miracles, but it is also only concerned with preserving life rather than dealing with end-of-life issues. Drawing on his experiences observing and helping terminally ill patients, Gawande (The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right, 2009, etc.) offers a timely account of how modern Americans cope with decline and mortality. He points out that dying in America is a lonely, complex business. Before 1945, people could count on spending their last days at home. Now, most die in institutional settings, usually after trying every medical procedure possible to head off the inevitable. Quality of life is often sacrificed, in part because doctors lack the ability to help patients negotiate a bewildering array of medical and nonmedical options. Many, like Gawande's mother-in-law, Alice, find that they must take residence in senior housing or assisted care facilities due to the fact that no other reasonable options exist. But even the most well-run of these homes are problematic because they can only offer sterile institutional settings that restrict independence and can cause psychological distress. Moving in with adult children is also difficult due to the tensions and conflicts that inevitably arise. Yet the current system shows signs of reform. Rather than simply inform patients about their options or tell them what to do, some doctors, including the author, are choosing to offer the guidance that helps patients make their own decisions regarding treatment options and outcomes. By confronting the reality rather than pretending it can be beaten and understanding that there are times where the cost of pushing exceeds its value, the medical establishment can offer the kind of compassion that allows for more humane ways to die. As Gawande reminds readers, endings matter. A sensitive, intelligent and heartfelt examination of the processes of aging and dying. - Kirkus Reviews Robert Petkoff delivers this important essay on how traditional medicine falls short in treating the aged. His changes in pacing and intensity do more than keep the narrative interesting; they convey an emotional tone that moves in perfect sync with the pathos throughout the book. Most doctors and care administrators, Gawande says, want to fix biological problems and usually overlook the boredom, loneliness, and helplessness that make the end-of-life experience so difficult. Citing research on innovative approaches to geriatric care, he shares inspiring stories of caregivers who are breaking free of medical models and bringing life-and better health outcomes-to the way people live their final years. T.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award, 2015 Audies Finalist ¬© AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine - NOVEMBER 2014 - AudioFile