When Breath Becomes Air

by Paul Kalanithi

First published 2017

At 36, Paul Kalanithi had it all: a thriving career as a neurosurgeon, a loving wife, and a future full of promise. But his world is upended when he's diagnosed with terminal lung cancer. As he trades his surgeon's scrubs for a hospital gown, Kalanithi grapples with the most essential question: what makes life worth living in the face of death? His deeply personal account explores the fraught relationship between doctor and patient, and the transformative power of confronting one's own mortality.

Genres: medical, non-fiction, biography-memoir, personal-development

Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking

Tropes: doctor-patient-relationship

Setting: Arizona, California, New Haven, CT, Stanford University, United States, Yale University

229 pages · Hardcover · Random House

Content warnings: terminal-illness

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