A powerful, difficult, and necessary book exploring how to make informed choices on a topic we normally actively avoid thinking about, the end of our lives.

Almost no one says they want their end to be in a hospital room, surrounded by strangers and in great suffering or a medicated haze, or both. But all too often this is what happens. The reason, according to this author, is modern medicine’s inability to grapple with larger questions of patient well-being. Doctors are very good at tackling specific medical problems, but when it comes to things like aging or the final stages of life there is ultimately no “fix” or “cure”. So doctors often fall back on what they know, treatment, medication or surgery, anything that may prolong life, even though these steps sometimes end up reducing the quality or even duration of a patient’s life.
The author advocates for a new approach to these and other issues, one that involves asking tough questions, having difficult conversations, and ultimately giving autonomy back to people at their end of life. The answer this author presents is certainly not “giving up” by any means, but an approach that prioritizes what people value most with the time they have left and defers to their sincere wishes.

This book was full of great information, remarkable insights, and of course while it dealt with challenging topics, maintained a hopeful and optimistic tone throughout.