When Breath Becomes Air
2016 · Paul Kalanithi · 256 pages · Memoir
Paul Kalanithi's posthumous memoir about facing terminal lung cancer as a young neurosurgeon is one of the most widely praised books about mortality published this century. It is short, precise, and emotionally overwhelming in ways that catch readers off guard. Kalanithi's writing is literary without being showy, and his perspective as both doctor and patient gives the book a dual authority that most memoirs about illness lack. It will leave most readers changed, even those who pick it up skeptical of the genre.