{"product_id":"when-breath-becomes-air-9780812988406","title":"When Breath Becomes Air","description":"\u003cb\u003e#1 \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e 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, \u003ci\u003eWhat makes a life worth living?\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Unmissable . . . Finishing this book and then forgetting about it is simply not an option.\"--Janet Maslin, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review, People, \u003c\/i\u003eNPR\u003ci\u003e, The Washington Post, Slate, Harper's Bazaar, Time Out New York, Publishers Weekly, BookPage\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAt 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. \u003ci\u003eWhen Breath Becomes Air\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWhat 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePaul 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.'\" \u003ci\u003eWhen Breath Becomes Air\u003c\/i\u003e 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePaul Kalanithi\u003c\/b\u003e was a neurosurgeon and writer. He grew up in Kingman, Arizona, and graduated from Stanford University with a BA and MA in English literature and a BA in human biology. He earned an MPhil in history and philosophy of science and medicine from the University of Cambridge and graduated cum laude from the Yale School of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha national medical honor society. He returned to Stanford to complete his residency training in neurological surgery and a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience, during which he received the American Academy of Neurological Surgery's highest award for research. He died in March 2015. He is survived by his large, loving family, including his wife, Lucy, and their daughter, Elizabeth Acadia.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Random House","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50575486812434,"sku":"9780812988406","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_653c3949-7754-47cf-8fac-9d937136c41b.jpg?v=1731982678","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/when-breath-becomes-air-9780812988406","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}