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Best Medical History & Records

Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge
Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge, Third Edition is an outstanding student resource and guide to the history of healthcare informatics, current issues, basic informatics concepts, and health information management applications.
Reviews
"Needed for school... wasn’t fun reading."
"Rental got here quickly and it was exactly what I needed for class."
"I purchased the third edition but the second edition was the book I received...I am disappointed but I don't have time to reorder and wait without a book.."
"Horrible book."
"had to buy this for a class, did not use it much."
"There are so many typos/formatting mistakes in the Kindle version it is very distracting and detracts from the content."
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CPT 2016 Standard Edition (Cpt / Current Procedural Terminology (Standard Edition))
The CPT 2016 Standard Codebook helps professionals remain compliant with annual Current Procedural Terminology code set changes.
Reviews
"good to have for healthcare claims professionals."
"Comprehensive, easy to follow guidelines just like the 2015 edition."
"Great price."
"Just what was needed for my class and cheaper than the schools required purchase."
"The tabs were unusable as apparently the book had been through some heat enough to glue them down to the page from which they were to be used."
"Color coded pages."
"It's doing the job that I need it to do."
"Not worth the price but need it for school."
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The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
At a time when surgery couldn’t have been more hazardous, an unlikely figure stepped forward: a young, melancholy Quaker surgeon named Joseph Lister, who would solve the deadly riddle and change the course of history. Focusing on the tumultuous period from 1850 to 1875, she introduces us to Lister and his contemporaries―some of them brilliant, some outright criminal―and takes us through the grimy medical schools and dreary hospitals where they learned their art, the deadhouses where they studied anatomy, and the graveyards they occasionally ransacked for cadavers. Fitzharris documents her hero’s long struggle against naysayers and rivals, as well as the setbacks he faced in his personal and professional life, in an engaging journey into the past. “ The Butchering Art is an absorbing medical and social history that will leave you feeling both enlightened and thankful to benefit from the advances Lister (and his wife) popularized.” ―Sarah Harrison Smith, Omnivoracious. The story it tells is one of abiding fascination” ― Jennifer Senior, The New York Times. "The Butchering Art is a formidable achievement ―a rousing tale told with brio, featuring a real-life hero worthy of the ages and jolts of Victorian horror to rival the most lurid moments of Wilkie Collins" ―John J. Ross, The Wall Street Journal. "In The Butchering Art , Lindsey Fitzharris becomes our Dante, leading us through the macabre hell of nineteenth-century surgery to tell the story of Joseph Lister, the man who solved one of medicine's most daunting and lethal puzzles. With gusto, Dr. Fitzharris takes us into the operating theaters of yore as Lister awakens to the true nature of the killer that turned so many surgeries into little more than slow-moving executions. ― Erik Larson, bestselling author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City "With an eye for historical detail and an ear for vivid prose, Lindsey Fitzharris tells a spectacular story about one of the most important moments in the history of medicine: the rise of sterile surgery. It will make you forever grateful to Joseph Lister, the man who saved us from the horrors of pre-antiseptic surgery, and to Lindsey Fitzharris, who brings to life the harrowing and deadly sights, smells, and sounds of a nineteenth-century hospital." ―Caitlin Doughty, bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity " The Butchering Art is a brilliant and gripping account of the almost unimaginable horrors of surgery and postoperative infection before Joseph Lister transformed it all with his invention of antisepsis. It is the story of one of the truly great men of medicine and of the triumph of humane scientific method and dogged persistence over dogmatic ignorance." [Fitzharris] infuses her thoughtful and finely crafted examination of this [antiseptic] revolution with the same sense of wonder and compassion Lister himself brought to his patients, colleagues, and students . ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fitzharris knows how to engage readers in fascinating and shocking details about medical history .
Reviews
"The author's writing style makes the narrative flow and helps you feel immersed in the time (for better or worse depending on how squeamish you might be) while still conveying such a vital piece of history and not overindulging in the gruesome parts."
"No one has described Victorian medical like this before and I can't wait to see more from Lindsey."
"Dr. Fitzharris did a phenomenal job of bringing Joseph Lister's story to life."
"The stories woven throughout time periods and relating to other big names and discoveries during that same time is fascinating."
"Delving into the history of medicine makes one appreciate living in this era."
"This book is basically the biography of Dr Lister."
"Exceptionally Informative and well written."
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Best Medical History & Records

CPT 2017 Professional Edition (CPT/Current Procedural Terminology (Professional Edition))
The CPT® 2017 Professional Edition codebook features the following enhancements: - Updated alphabetical tabular listing of most analytes in the Pathology and Laboratory section eases your code search by directing you to applicable molecular pathology codes based on a specific analyte. - Enhanced codebook table of contents allows users to perform a quick search of the codebook s entire content without being in a specific section. The American Medical Association (AMA) provides products and services that empower health care organizations to practice medicine more efficiently and effectively while improving the health of patients.
Reviews
"Product as described."
"Just what I need to do my job!"
"You can never go wrong with this book, if you work in a hospital or medical setting."
"Good book for school."
"As needed for the medical coding class and advance coding class."
"Exactly what I need to complete the curse and my assignments."
"The binding and wiring is so bad I can't use the book for anything more until it rips apart."
"pages were fused together, had the small rings which made it hard to flip..print was horrible. do not buy!"
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Best History of Medicine

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
At a time when surgery couldn’t have been more hazardous, an unlikely figure stepped forward: a young, melancholy Quaker surgeon named Joseph Lister, who would solve the deadly riddle and change the course of history. Focusing on the tumultuous period from 1850 to 1875, she introduces us to Lister and his contemporaries―some of them brilliant, some outright criminal―and takes us through the grimy medical schools and dreary hospitals where they learned their art, the deadhouses where they studied anatomy, and the graveyards they occasionally ransacked for cadavers. Fitzharris documents her hero’s long struggle against naysayers and rivals, as well as the setbacks he faced in his personal and professional life, in an engaging journey into the past. “ The Butchering Art is an absorbing medical and social history that will leave you feeling both enlightened and thankful to benefit from the advances Lister (and his wife) popularized.” ―Sarah Harrison Smith, Omnivoracious. The story it tells is one of abiding fascination” ― Jennifer Senior, The New York Times. "The Butchering Art is a formidable achievement ―a rousing tale told with brio, featuring a real-life hero worthy of the ages and jolts of Victorian horror to rival the most lurid moments of Wilkie Collins" ―John J. Ross, The Wall Street Journal. "In The Butchering Art , Lindsey Fitzharris becomes our Dante, leading us through the macabre hell of nineteenth-century surgery to tell the story of Joseph Lister, the man who solved one of medicine's most daunting and lethal puzzles. With gusto, Dr. Fitzharris takes us into the operating theaters of yore as Lister awakens to the true nature of the killer that turned so many surgeries into little more than slow-moving executions. ― Erik Larson, bestselling author of Dead Wake and The Devil in the White City "With an eye for historical detail and an ear for vivid prose, Lindsey Fitzharris tells a spectacular story about one of the most important moments in the history of medicine: the rise of sterile surgery. It will make you forever grateful to Joseph Lister, the man who saved us from the horrors of pre-antiseptic surgery, and to Lindsey Fitzharris, who brings to life the harrowing and deadly sights, smells, and sounds of a nineteenth-century hospital." ―Caitlin Doughty, bestselling author of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and From Here to Eternity " The Butchering Art is a brilliant and gripping account of the almost unimaginable horrors of surgery and postoperative infection before Joseph Lister transformed it all with his invention of antisepsis. It is the story of one of the truly great men of medicine and of the triumph of humane scientific method and dogged persistence over dogmatic ignorance." [Fitzharris] infuses her thoughtful and finely crafted examination of this [antiseptic] revolution with the same sense of wonder and compassion Lister himself brought to his patients, colleagues, and students . ― Publishers Weekly (starred review) "Fitzharris knows how to engage readers in fascinating and shocking details about medical history .
Reviews
"The author's writing style makes the narrative flow and helps you feel immersed in the time (for better or worse depending on how squeamish you might be) while still conveying such a vital piece of history and not overindulging in the gruesome parts."
"Dr. Fitzharris has a talent for bringing gruesome and weird medical history to life and The Butchering Art is no exception."
"It is filled with interesting and thought provoking information."
"Enjoyable and informative read."
"Fantastic book for those interested in surgery in the Victorian era..."
"Looking through the hardback copy, there is an index in the back and around 30 pages of notes on where the research came from!"
"I've been in a decade-long reading slump, but received Dr. Lindsey Fitzharris' The Butchering Art in the mail earlier today and haven't been able to put it down!"
"It didn't take long for me to be sucked right into this book."
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Best Medical Informatics

Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge
Nursing Informatics and the Foundation of Knowledge, Fourth Edition teaches nursing students the history of healthcare informatics, current issues, basic informatics concepts, and health information management applications.
Reviews
"Needed for school... wasn’t fun reading."
"Rental got here quickly and it was exactly what I needed for class."
"Horrible book."
"had to buy this for a class, did not use it much."
"There are so many typos/formatting mistakes in the Kindle version it is very distracting and detracts from the content."
"Very poor product!!"
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Best Medical Assistant Health Service

Anatomy Trains: Myofascial Meridians for Manual and Movement Therapists, 3e
Provides a revolutionary approach to the study of human anatomy which has been shown to improve the outcomes of physical therapies traditionally used to manage pain and other musculoskeletal disorders Describes a theory which is applicable to all common types of movement, posture analysis and physical treatment modalities Layout designed to allow the reader to gather the concept quickly or gain a more detailed understanding of any given area according to need Design icons direct readers to their own specialist areas of interest, e.g. manual therapy, movement therapy, visual assessment, kinaesthetic education or supplementary video material Appendices discuss the relevance of the Anatomy Trains concept to the work of Dr Louis Schultz (Meridians of Latitude), Ada Rolf (Structural Integration) and the practice of Oriental Medicine Accompanying website (www.myersmyofascialmeridians.com) presents multi-media exploration of the concepts described in the book - film clips from Kinesis DVDs, computer graphic representations of the Anatomy Trains, supplementary dissection photographs and video clips, webinars, and some extra client photos for visual assessment practice. As we seek solutions to the frequently complex biomechanical puzzles posed by those who consult us, Tom Myers' insight into the fascial networks of the body can often point to practical therapeutic options. The Anatomy Trains metaphor is a revelation; a way of seeing the body's interconnectedness more clearly, offering new physiological and anatomical perspectives, and therefore different clinical choices. Tom Myers' masterful second edition of Anatomy Trains incorporates the most recent scientific concepts into a framework for understanding and practicing deep tissue work. Using Tom Myers' Anatomy Trains concepts and techniques in my chiropractic practice has improved my ability to see the source of my patient's problem and more efficiently target the soft tissue structures involved. As a result, injuries resolve more quickly, chronic problems respond well, and my adjustments are more effective because they are supported by the soft tissue. Anatomy Trains has become required reading for the advanced Structural Integration and Myofascial Therapy programs of the CORE Institute. Myers has discovered the critical interconnections of the myofascial web and communicates his vision in a language that honors both the art and science of somatic therapies. Dr Andry Vleeming, Professor of Clinical Anatomy, co-editor of Movement, Stability and Lumbopelvic Pain The beauty of Tom Myers' work is that it is useful for a wide range of bodyworkers, from movement or energy therapists to manipulative manual specialists, and does more than simply demonstrating rote techniques, Anatomy Trains provides a deep understanding of strain patterns in the body to enable creative and effective solutions for the issues we encounter in a bodywork practice. Chris Frederick, Physical Therapist, Certified Flexibility Specialist, Professional Structural Integrator, Director Stretch to Win Institute. Anatomy Trains is an essential guide for understanding key myofascial lines which, when in tensegrity, facilitate optimal movement and postural patterns. An anatomical playwright, Tom’s newest offering captures our curiosity with incomparable biomechanical prose and delights our visual senses via breathtaking graphic designs. Tom's Anatomy Trains book and in depth practical studies represent/reveal an invaluable and vivid insight/understanding into how the body has pre-organized its movement functions via the flexible fabric (cut on the bias) from within. Marie-Jose Blom Lawrence, Master Teacher of Pilates, Director Long Beach Dance Conditioning, Creator of Smart Spine Back Support System. Anatomy Trains is a resource that gives inspiration for anyone who works with the human organism, for practitioners of various manual fields, for movement teachers and for educators in a larger sense. Originally trained as a Rolfer, Tom has taken his research to a completely new level, presenting current material about connective tissue that continues to pour out of clinical studies at an ever-increasing pace.
Reviews
"Tom Myers in his two books presents an appealing if not compelling theory on fascial anatomy and its potential effects on movement and posture across broad planes. The book is wonderfully done, and the theory is well presented with ample and useful anatomical illustrations of each anatomy train. That being said I do have some reservations about the Anatomy Trains concept and the phenomenon of whole scale acceptance that surrounds the theory. I've had anatomy instructors in Rolfing training, in pre-medicine in college, and in both chiropractic and veterinary college, and I can say Tom Myers is as good as they come in making anatomy relevant to clinical treatment. I think he is a visionary in stepping back to look at functional anatomy from a whole body perspective. While there has been a great deal of basic scientific work done on the microscopic structure and chemistry of fascia, the work has yet to be done to verify what Rolfers have always proposed: 1) that restriction in a small area of fascia can be propagated across long distances and across firm attachment points to cause global movement dysfunction and 2) that deep manual intervention is actually able to stretch or "free" fascial restrictions deep in the tissues. While the Anatomy Trains concept is an excellent theory that, if true, would be a wonderful guide to strategy in manual therapies, there are other competing theories that make as much sense and may have a better scientific underpinning. One such theory is that deep fascial intervention, as a secondary byproduct, causes mast cell degranulation in superficial tissues and that the released histamine granules cause extravasation of intravascular fluid into the tissues which "hydrates" those tissues, bringing about better sliding between fascial planes. This is why I see it so troubling that the Anatomy Trains concept has become so pervasively accepted as fact, yet the most basic premises, 1) that gross fascial strain can be transmitted physically across chains of firm anchor points and 2) that deep manual intervention can stretch or "release" fascia in vivo, remain completely unproven theories. As it is, the Anatomy Trains concept is an exciting theory, but it is as yet only a theory, not an essential revolutionary truth in manual medicine, as many claim."
"The diagrams in this book blew me away."
"Great book any one interested in fascia or muscle/kinetic chains should check this out."
"This book is a good manual for layperson and clinician alike to understand it and goes a long way in teaching how to approach producing healing effects within it, whether you are treating yourself or patients or clients."
"I'm a chiropractor and this should have been part of our curriculum."
"Best money I've spent on a text book in a long time."
"Great book."
"The previous edition was a better book."
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Best Medical Professional Biographies

When Breath Becomes Air
#1 NEW YORK TIMES 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 What makes a life worth living? At 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. When Breath Becomes Air 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. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air 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. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him—passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die—so well.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times. The book brims with insightful reflections on mortality that are especially poignant coming from a trained physician familiar with what lies ahead.” — The Boston Globe. As he wrote to a friend: ‘It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.’ And just important enough to be unmissable.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, written as he faced a terminal cancer diagnosis, is inherently sad. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring.” — The Washington Post “Paul Kalanithi’s posthumous memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, possesses the gravity and wisdom of an ancient Greek tragedy. [Kalanithi] is so likeable, so relatable, and so humble, that you become immersed in his world and forget where it’s all heading.” — USA Today “It’s [Kalanithi’s] unsentimental approach that makes When Breath Becomes Air so original—and so devastating. “Rattling, heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful, the too-young Dr. Kalanithi’s memoir is proof that the dying are the ones who have the most to teach us about life.” —Atul Gawande “Thanks to When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. Kalanithi strives to define his dual role as physician and patient, and he weighs in on such topics as what makes life meaningful and how one determines what is most important when little time is left. This deeply moving memoir reveals how much can be achieved through service and gratitude when a life is courageously and resiliently lived.” — Publishers Weekly “A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity . Kalanithi describes, clearly and simply, and entirely without self-pity, his journey from innocent medical student to professionally detached and all-powerful neurosurgeon to helpless patient, dying from cancer. Every doctor should read this book—written by a member of our own tribe, it helps us understand and overcome the barriers we all erect between ourselves and our patients as soon as we are out of medical school.” —Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery “A tremendous book, crackling with life, animated by wonder and by the question of how we should live. Paul Kalanithi lived and died in the pursuit of excellence, and by this testimonial, he achieved it.” —Gavin Francis, author of Adventures in Human Being.
Reviews
"Ultimately there's not much triumph in it in the traditional sense but there is a dogged, quiet resilience and a frank earthiness that endures long after the last word appears. Dr. Kalanithi talks about his upbringing as the child of hardworking Indian immigrant parents and his tenacious and passionate espousal of medicine and literature. He speaks lovingly of his relationship with his remarkable wife - also a doctor - who he met in medical school and who played an outsized role in supporting him through everything he went through. He had a stunning and multifaceted career, studying biology and literature at Stanford, then history and philosophy of medicine at Cambridge, and finally neurosurgery at Yale. The mark of a man of letters is evident everywhere in the book, and quotes from Eliot, Beckett, Pope and Shakespeare make frequent appearances. Metaphors abound and the prose often soars: When describing how important it is to develop good surgical technique, he tells us that "Technical excellence was a moral requirement"; meanwhile, the overwhelming stress of late night shifts, hundred hour weeks and patients with acute trauma made him occasionally feel like he was "trapped in an endless jungle summer, wet with sweat, the rain of tears of the dying pouring down". The painful uncertainty which he documents - in particular the tyranny of statistics which makes it impossible to predict how a specific individual will react to cancer therapy - must sadly be familiar to anyone who has had experience with the disease. There are heartbreaking descriptions of how at one point the cancer seemed to have almost disappeared and how, after Dr. Kalanithi had again cautiously made plans for a hopeful future with his wife, it returned with a vengeance and he had to finally stop working."
"He says this, “The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands or judgment will slip, and yet still struggle to win …You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which are ceaselessly striving. In the foreword by fellow doctor and writer Abraham Verghese, that doctor writes, “He (Paul) wasn’t writing about anything—he was writing about time and what it meant to him now, in the context of his illness.” And in the afterword by his wife Lucy, the meaning of that time becomes even clearer."
"The pressure to be brave when scared, the pressure to do something great instead of just being, the pressure to conform to someone else's idea of what dying well looks like."
"knowing his terminal condition, had the fortitude & patience to share such a personal. experience almost to the end of his life."
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Best History & Philosophy of Science

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Now an HBO® Film starring Oprah Winfrey and Rose Byrne #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER. Her name was Henrietta Lacks, but scientists know her as HeLa. Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2010 : From a single, abbreviated life grew a seemingly immortal line of cells that made some of the most crucial innovations in modern science possible. Henrietta Lacks was a mother of five in Baltimore, a poor African American migrant from the tobacco farms of Virginia, who died from a cruelly aggressive cancer at the age of 30 in 1951. A sample of her cancerous tissue, taken without her knowledge or consent, as was the custom then, turned out to provide one of the holy grails of mid-century biology: human cells that could survive--even thrive--in the lab. Meanwhile, Henrietta's family continued to live in poverty and frequently poor health, and their discovery decades later of her unknowing contribution--and her cells' strange survival--left them full of pride, anger, and suspicion. Jad Abumrad is host and creator of the public radio hit Radiolab , now in its seventh season and reaching over a million people monthly. Just the simple facts are hard to believe: that in 1951, a poor black woman named Henrietta Lacks dies of cervical cancer, but pieces of the tumor that killed her--taken without her knowledge or consent--live on, first in one lab, then in hundreds, then thousands, then in giant factories churning out polio vaccines, then aboard rocket ships launched into space. The cells from this one tumor would spawn a multi-billion dollar industry and become a foundation of modern science--leading to breakthroughs in gene mapping, cloning and fertility and helping to discover how viruses work and how cancer develops (among a million other things). But what's truly remarkable about Rebecca Skloot 's book is that we also get the rest of the story, the part that could have easily remained hidden had she not spent ten years unearthing it: Who was Henrietta Lacks?
Reviews
"This was a great book that I'm so glad I read."
"In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot introduces us to the “real live woman,” the children who survived her, and the interplay of race, poverty, science and one of the most important medical discoveries of the last 100 years. Skloot narrates the science lucidly, tracks the racial politics of medicine thoughtfully and tells the Lacks family’s often painful history with grace. When science appears, it does so effortlessly, with explanations of cell anatomy or techniques like “fluorescence in situ hybridization” seamlessly worked into descriptions of the coloured wards of Johns Hopkins hospital to Lacks’s hometown of Clover, Virginia. And yet for all its grand scope, skilful writing and touching compassion, there is one simple element that makes As a final thought, I was struck by the parallels between Henrietta’s cells and her story."
"The author did a great job of allowing the reader to decide if Henrietta's family should have profited from her cells."
"After reading about Henrietta Lacks, I began thinking about all the blood tests I've had done, and some minor surgeries I've had and I constantly wondered, what did those doctors and/or hospitals do with my tissues and/or blood? I realize there are laws in place now that weren't there when Henrietta lived, but to read how Dr. Gey took samples of Henrietta's cancerous tumor and used it to advance science and medicine as we know of it today, is mind-boggling. All of us living today should be thankful for Henrietta because she has done something that no one else seems to ever have been able to do, which is live immortally. Lacks' cells, while her family continues to live in poverty. I learned so much about cells and DNA, not to mention that just about every pill I've ever taken, most likely was the result of Henrietta's cells, which still grow today."
"When a friend recommended this book I'd never heard of Henrietta Lacks or HeLa."
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Best Infectious Disease

When Breath Becomes Air
#1 NEW YORK TIMES 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 What makes a life worth living? At 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. When Breath Becomes Air 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. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air 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. And part comes from the way he conveys what happened to him—passionately working and striving, deferring gratification, waiting to live, learning to die—so well.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times. The book brims with insightful reflections on mortality that are especially poignant coming from a trained physician familiar with what lies ahead.” — The Boston Globe. When Paul Kalanithi is given his diagnosis he is forced to see this disease, and the process of being sick, as a patient rather than a doctor--the result of his experience is not just a look at what living is and how it works from a scientific perspective, but the ins and outs of what makes life matter. As he wrote to a friend: ‘It’s just tragic enough and just imaginable enough.’ And just important enough to be unmissable.” —Janet Maslin, The New York Times “Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, written as he faced a terminal cancer diagnosis, is inherently sad. It is, despite its grim undertone, accidentally inspiring.” — The Washington Post “Paul Kalanithi’s posthumous memoir, When Breath Becomes Air, possesses the gravity and wisdom of an ancient Greek tragedy. [Kalanithi] is so likeable, so relatable, and so humble, that you become immersed in his world and forget where it’s all heading.” — USA Today “It’s [Kalanithi’s] unsentimental approach that makes When Breath Becomes Air so original—and so devastating. Its only fault is that the book, like his life, ends much too early.” — Entertainment Weekly “[ When Breath Becomes Air ] split my head open with its beauty.” —Cheryl Strayed. “Rattling, heartbreaking, and ultimately beautiful, the too-young Dr. Kalanithi’s memoir is proof that the dying are the ones who have the most to teach us about life.” —Atul Gawande “Thanks to When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. Kalanithi strives to define his dual role as physician and patient, and he weighs in on such topics as what makes life meaningful and how one determines what is most important when little time is left. This deeply moving memoir reveals how much can be achieved through service and gratitude when a life is courageously and resiliently lived.” — Publishers Weekly “A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity . Every doctor should read this book—written by a member of our own tribe, it helps us understand and overcome the barriers we all erect between ourselves and our patients as soon as we are out of medical school.” —Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery “A tremendous book, crackling with life, animated by wonder and by the question of how we should live.
Reviews
"Ultimately there's not much triumph in it in the traditional sense but there is a dogged, quiet resilience and a frank earthiness that endures long after the last word appears. Dr. Kalanithi talks about his upbringing as the child of hardworking Indian immigrant parents and his tenacious and passionate espousal of medicine and literature. He speaks lovingly of his relationship with his remarkable wife - also a doctor - who he met in medical school and who played an outsized role in supporting him through everything he went through. He had a stunning and multifaceted career, studying biology and literature at Stanford, then history and philosophy of medicine at Cambridge, and finally neurosurgery at Yale. The mark of a man of letters is evident everywhere in the book, and quotes from Eliot, Beckett, Pope and Shakespeare make frequent appearances. Metaphors abound and the prose often soars: When describing how important it is to develop good surgical technique, he tells us that "Technical excellence was a moral requirement"; meanwhile, the overwhelming stress of late night shifts, hundred hour weeks and patients with acute trauma made him occasionally feel like he was "trapped in an endless jungle summer, wet with sweat, the rain of tears of the dying pouring down". The painful uncertainty which he documents - in particular the tyranny of statistics which makes it impossible to predict how a specific individual will react to cancer therapy - must sadly be familiar to anyone who has had experience with the disease. There are heartbreaking descriptions of how at one point the cancer seemed to have almost disappeared and how, after Dr. Kalanithi had again cautiously made plans for a hopeful future with his wife, it returned with a vengeance and he had to finally stop working."
"He says this, “The secret is to know that the deck is stacked, that you will lose, that your hands or judgment will slip, and yet still struggle to win …You can’t ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which are ceaselessly striving. In the foreword by fellow doctor and writer Abraham Verghese, that doctor writes, “He (Paul) wasn’t writing about anything—he was writing about time and what it meant to him now, in the context of his illness.” And in the afterword by his wife Lucy, the meaning of that time becomes even clearer."
"Whether life is lived til old age or taken in illness or suddenly, the person experiences it."
"The introspective reader is taken on some part of Dr. Kalanithi's journey from strength to vulnerability, and one cannot help but marvel at and be inspired by his determination to share his insights and experiences by writing a book despite the physical discomfort he was going through."
"Like when you go running and forget you are on a run, because you are one with the run; reading this I was so absorbed, it was like I was listening to Paul, hearing his words, versus reading them...."
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