Being Mortal Book Reviews

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Being Mortal, by Dr. Atul Gawande. A thoughtful, balanced, sensitive, and well-informed treatment of a subject that invites melodrama and extreme emotions -- namely, death, and specifically, our own. Dr. Gawande offers case examples to introduce specific questions to stimulate the difficult but compassionate conversations that allow us to have the most control over how we die. This most uncontrollably unavoidable final event/process in our lives need not be dictated by strangers, however well-trained and well-intentioned. Shifting the focus from "prolonging life" to "prolonging quality of life" must become the new Gold Standard for end of life care. Reading this book may just be the prescription for shifting the conversation from the melodramatic focus on "death panels" and "assisted suicide" to the real issue -- how we can remain true to ourselves and our values in this realm where we have too often abdicated decisions and paid a high price in terms of our low quality of death. Every doctor and every patient would benefit from reading and discussing this book.

Being Mortal. A well written must read for medical professional and lay person alike. Dr. Gawande clearly identifies the problems of aging in modern America and offers insights into how to move to a better more compassionate solution.

Thought provoking. Things that must be considered.. This is not a book to hurry through. It is very well written and it draws you in. However, the reader is best served by slowing down and taking time to chew on the thoughts in each chapter rather than compressing many ideas together. There is quite a bit to think about, plan for and ponder in this book. There are many things that are actionable in advance, but most importantly, there is a guide for thinking about the final months weeks and days of one's life. Sorting what is a priority and possible from nice to have and fantasy requires thought and a good framework is presented here.

Wish my patient's read this. Good advice on matters we wish not to dwell on. Obviously at times a downer. But, some laugh out loud moments. Dr. Liberty

Read This Book. As a hospice nurse I watch these struggles of aging daily. A thought full book that gives me pause and helps me appreciate the unknown ahead of each of us and the choices we will face.

Being Mortal. Grim but crucial reading. Goes deeply into matters that most Americans are frightened to even mention among family members. Prepares us for when life comes to its end.

Simple but brilliant!. Dr. Gawande has captured the essence of life and death and how doctors,families and patients can and will make their last days stand out and be remembered as fulfilling not dreadful.

a worthwhile read. this book made me cry but it also educated me and made me feel even the tiniest bit more prepared.

Being Mortal. This book should be required reading, for everyone ! Thank you Doctor, for bringing a human perspective and beauty back into the difficult questions that surround the end of human life.

Solid read. Phenomenal read. A little slow start with data and analysis, but great read overall! Highly recommend.

Brilliant. A most important message, perfectly written.

Excellent, introspective and personal. Anyone who believes they will have to deal with aging and death should read this. This is a very good work. It starts slowly as the author gets around to the purpose of the book but when he does it all falls nicely into place. Finally, the personal stuff is candid and well written. Could not have been an easy topic. I strongly agreed with the general conclusion that medicine is more about well-being and not only about fixing - as it has largely been seen in the west. This is easily Atul's best work though I am also very fond of his first two: Better and Complications.

Being Mortal. A combination of the history of development of end of life options with real person experiences makes this book very readable. It makes you think about what you would hope for when its your turn.

Common Journey. As we age out and experience the decline of ourselves and family it's good to be able share the fears and hopes we cope with as this unfolds. Well done and full of insights. Pass it along to share the conversation that we all face.

Being Mortal. An amazing book that everyone should read. It was a soft pull into the reality of mortality and an inspiring guide of the journey we must all take. Thank you for writing this and sharing the many insights.

On death and dying. Atul Gawande asserts he is not a “facile writer.” I respectfully disagree. Perhaps the words don’t flow out as smoothly as he might wish. Perhaps they require revision once or twice or more when they do emerge. Perhaps they have to be set down and picked up and set down again before they are ready. But once they are ready, they are very good, very pertinent, very true. Death is among the most difficult of topics. Real death that is. Not dramatic death as it is portrayed in movies, either heroically or tragically. It may be heroic or it may be tragic, it may be calm or violent, accepted or fought, but it is inevitable. Dr. Gawande calls out his own profession as the would-be fixers of something that is not fixable and suggests a different approach. There are key lessons here: that those who acknowledge what is happening and choose hospice care have both better lives and longer lives as they pace out the time allotted to them. That the end time is one of coming to peace with one’s life journey. That the presence of loved ones is the most important thing at the end. I read this book some time before the passing of a close relative and it was a great help to me through that time. I could clearly see that this person, who had been so vibrant and strong through his whole life, clearly recognized that this would not be the life in front of him. He was the one who helped people. Helped them into and out of cars, up and down stairs, helped them dress, helped them eat. He was not the one being helped. That was not him. And so he let go. Being Mortal explains this. It explains that such a parting, while sad for those left behind, is the best kind of ending.

Being Mortal. A thoughtful look at life of interest to all mortals. Well written.

5 out 5!. This book was very insightful. A great read!

Being Mortal. A book that has so much to say...and is written so well, that when I got to the last page, I started reading It from the beginning...all over again, and was glad I did ! This is not easy stuff, because we are not hard wired to understand it, but , oh so important to grasp. Thank you Atul Gawande for leading me to this new understanding.

Being Mortal. There are so many good things about this book that I will simply say that this is a must read!

Thought provoking. Cc

Utterly marvelous. This book provides an initial guide to those of us entering the elder years and those close to us. Also, it gives insight into one of the great medical minds of our time. Dr. Gawande epitomizes the compassion we would hope all of our medical providers could offer, but few have the capabilities to do so. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this wonderfully written book and bought it for my grown children to help them navigate my elder years.

Nancy s. This is a must read book for all families dealing with serious health care choices. Most important is to have discussions with family members in advance to clarify and formulate a plan for seriously ill patients. For the loved ones of such patients, this discussion can relieve family members of guilt and grief and provide patients with the best quality of life while dying. That is a great gift that has long been neglected in medical care

Interesting and inspiring. Amazing book. I am in my mid twenties with little knowledge of the healthcare industry, and I found this book to be extremely interesting and inspiring. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Being Mortal. An outstanding book that opened my eyes to life, death and the choices we make in between. Read it for yourself and all you love. Especially your aging parents as they meet the crossroads of aging, disease and choices to make along the way.

Being Mortal. So important to start this conversation. We are NOT going to live forever, inspite of the denial I deal with on a daily basis as a hospitalist. Families need to speak opening about the future; doctors need to just talk (to their patients).

Please read. Atul Gwande's book Being Mortal is a must read. I recently lost my mother, she suffered from dementia and poor health. I had no choice but to place her in a nursing home. I then turned to our local Hospice organization for help. I can't express how important Hospice was during the whole process. Please don't let health care professionals scare you away from making that call. They will help guide you and put and end to needless medications, tests, and hospital visits. Please give your loved one dignity they deserve.

Being Mortal is a must read for doctors!. I have had to face so many losses in my personal life already that I resonated with many of the stories. As a physician, I have also made many of the same mistakes in approaching patients with the realities of death and dying. I believe I have gained valuable perspective.

Being mortal. Best non fiction book I've read. Anyone who is mortal should read it

Historical Book. This is one of those books that will be viewed as a turning point in the human psyche on how we live and die. I have lived through some of the scenarios Atul described, (being a cancer survivor), which brings it so close to home.

A must read for all!. This is a book about the natural decline in life that has been distorted by modern medicine. Only someone as gifted as Dr. Gawande in his role as a surgeon can give such a unique & powerful viewpoint. As a surgeon myself & someone with elderly parents/in laws I greatly appreciated his intellectual analysis of this important topic.

Life changing. I am not one to read books such as this. I don't read much of anything for that matter. This book touched my life in such a profound way. The death of my mother, my own mortality, and those who are institutionalized not having control over their lives just because of disability or aging. The over treatment of those who are desperate and needing guidance from our medical establishments *must* be rethought; people and their goals of what makes their lives important must be the number one consideration in end of life or terminal illness decisions. I cannot say enough about this book and I believe EVERYONE would benefit from reading it. But it should be mandatory reading for those who are in any medical field or work in nursing homes and for those who are elderly and those with terminal illness. Thank you for writing such a beautiful, life changing book.

Ms. I have spoken to family about the resuscitate/do not resuscitate and similar end of life decisions. But, had never thought about or understood the importance of the questions that might lead up to making those decisions. Introducing me to those questions, with real life examples of there ultimate impact on the lives of those left to make the final end of life decisions, is why I gave this book a five stars.

Good job !. This book is well written and gives me a new insight of what a life means to me. I read it during my POT. I am glad I did it. And I will tell myself to respect each of my patient thinking of this book when I work as a nurse not only focus on tasks at hand.

Being Mortal. This book is a must read. I felt that Dr Gawande was speaking directly to me. My brother in law past away this past August after a month in the hospital and then three days at home on Hospice. Hospice was such a great support and I don't know what we would have done without their support. I also have a very close friend recently diagnosed with Renal Cancer and they will be experiencing many of the issues addressed in this book in the coming months or years. I have already downloaded samples of Dr Gawande's other two books.

A must read book. For anyone interested in thinking about end of life issues, this is an important and greatly insightful book. It is very readable and tackles painful subjects with understanding and compassion. This is not a topic that most people want to think about but for that very reason we should consider these matters now while we can so that we and our loved ones may have a better chance at having a good ending.

uj2bungs. Everyone should read this book. As we travel the highway of our lives we all will invariably have to deal with end of life issues and our mortality. This book will become the "Bible" for our generation and those generations that follow on how to address that inevitability. With extraordinary tenderness, clarity and compassion Dr. Gawande details that experience with touching examples of what questions to ask ourselves and what must be considered both in ourselves and those we love when we come to realize that our time as mortal beings is over. Read it!!!

Wonderful read. Loved this book so much! Balanced science with compassion and opened my eyes to the reality that a death with dignity must be planned.

I cried and I thought. With a loved one experiencing a terminal illness this book hit me very hard at times, but I’m so thankful for the messages I heard as I read it.

Important. The book represents a vital piece of the conversations everyone should be having and how we all define health and health care. I urge those in the real estate industry to eliminate the question on a seller's disclosure statement if someone has died in the home being sold. The question implies a very negative occurrence when in fact it is something we all strive for.

Lives up to the high expectations. Moving, thoughtful, honest and important.

Being Mortal. This is an immensely well-written and valuable book. As a somewhat burned out 64 year old male who doesn't know how much longer I have to live, it provides a wonderful heart-warming guide on how to make the most of each remaining day of my life.

Being Mortal. Understandably a bit clinical, overall a wonderful window and perspective into our all Being Mortal. Also found it all inspiring that regardless of one nationality or religious beliefs the amazing power and spirit of the human and Holy (Great) Spirit. Additionally, it is a great human guidebook to end of life guidance for loved ones and oneself as we will all have our turn.

Right on!. As a physician and a patient with stage four prostate cancer, I had more than a passing interest in Dr. Gawande's book. His insights into what doctors DO as opposed to what patients NEED, is without peer in the world of medicine. He also identifies, with deep care and concern, issues that patients have to address, often without useful guidance by the medical profession. The balance between hope (things will get better) and fear (things will get worse, we just do not know when) is, from a patient's perspective, a daily question. This is but one of approximately seven or eight critical issues on which Dr. Gawande sheds considerable light and understanding. That the book has helped my wife would be an understatement. I also expect to refer the book to colleagues who are involved in hospice, palliative care or teach our next generation of physicians. Thank you Dr. Gawande, you have made my personal journey much clearer, and for that I am most grateful.

Humbling, sorrowful, and inspiring. This is a book I’ll never forget. It’s made me thinks about life and death in an entirely unexpected way.

Great read for both health care providers and the general population. As someone involved with health care, this book provides great info about some of the deficiencies in or system and provides some suggestions for improvement in the coming years, especially with our aging population. However, for the general public it also gives great insight into the options available for end-of-life care and describes very adequately how we can still have life fulfillment for ourselves or loved ones in old age. Highly recommend.

Excellent!. A healthcare professional my entire life; this is a wonderful and powerful book.

Being Mortal. My 63rd birthday was last September. About seven years ago I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and wasn't able to continue working in 2011. I had lost both my mom and dad within the previous 18 months. I am so thankful to the author for having given us this book. I will be giving a copy to both my adult daughters. If you have loved ones or if you yourself are approaching 'the homestretch' please read this book and pass it on. I am also considering giving a heads up to my GP. Peace and love.

Outstanding and life altering. A whole new perspective on aging, illness and what is important in living ones life. This book is beautifully written and I am better for it. A must read for anyone growing older.

A great beginning to The End. A lovely book about death. No, really. The author examines our modern attitudes and practices surrounding our aging and last days, and asks himself and us- how can we do better? Colored with poignant personal stories about the triumphs and failures of our modern ways, this book is a great introduction to thinking how we ourselves would like to spend our last days, and having those hard conversations with loved ones.

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