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How We Die: Reflections on Life's Final Chapter | 
| Author: Sherwin B. Nuland
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy Used: $0.38
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Avg. Customer Rating:  64 reviews
Sales Rank: 19303
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 304
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.2 x 0.7
ISBN: 0679742441
Dewey Decimal Number: 616.078
EAN: 9780679742449
ASIN: 0679742441
Publication Date: January 15, 1995
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Product Description
Attempting to demythologize the process of dying, Nuland explores how we shall die, each of us in a way that will be unique. Through particular stories of dying--of patients, and of his own family--he examines the seven most common roads to death: old age, cancer, AIDS, Alzheimer's, accidents, heart disease, and strokes, revealing the facets of death's multiplicity.
"It's impossible to read How We Die without realizing how earnestly we have avoided this most unavoidable of subjects, how we have protected ourselves by building a cultural wall of myths and lies. I don't know of any writer or scientist who has shown us the face of death as clearly, honestly and compassionately as Sherwin Nuland does here."--James Gleick
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| Customer Reviews: Read 59 more reviews...
Facing the end of life April 28, 2008
Technical informations, personal experiences, history and philosophy put the reader face to face with the end of life aspects. Informations that will help take decisions when death is near.
The magnifying glass over physiology let the reader think about many others aspects of life.
For Physicians and Patients Alike... February 22, 2008
I believe this is a must read book for doctors and patients alike. While not cozy and comforting, it presents the facts in a wholly acceptable and honest manner.
I read this after both of my parents passed away from cancer 10 months apart in an attempt to make some sense of what they endured both mentally and medically. This book provided the answers and a great measure of righteous anger at the attending physicians and their attitudes that somehow they could cure the uncureable right up until the very last moment, depriving everyone of the necessary time to say the things that needed to be said.
This book will tell you that you, as the patient, must seek the truth about your illness as it isn't always handed to you by your physician. For the physician, it teaches how to tell the truth without destroying the time left to terminal patients.
A sobering but compassionate look at the statistics November 27, 2007
Nuland may have written one of the most poetic and philosophically sobering accounts of the process of dying. As a practicing physician, he is very much in command of his facts. He has a reverance for the human body and acknowledges the miracle of life. He also recognizes how those in his profession can be a hindrance for people at the end of life because everything in their background, make-up, and training makes them want to rescue dying people from their inevitable demise regardless of the pain and indignity their "solutions" might inflict on their patients. Nuland writes movingly of the end-of-life experiences of family members and patients. In HOW WE DIE he achieves a delicate balance of presenting facts and statistics in memorable ways while also sharing profound stories of loss and regret along with stories that offer hope that even the most gruesome of deaths can be meaningful experiences to the dying and their loved-ones. The chapters on specific illnesses (heart disease, Alzheimer's, cancer, AIDS) are worth re-reading before interacting with anyone suffering from these conditions.
On my second reading! July 10, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Anyone interested in physiology will love this book. Easy to read, fascinating for the lay person as well as any premed student! I've got an 88 yr. old mother and this book explained so much!
How We Live May 24, 2007
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
Nuland's "How We Die" is, ostensibly, about death and the means by which the great majority of us will take our exit; toward this end, Nuland excels. Nuland also manages, however, to subtly position death's predecessor -- life -- front and center by concluding that "The dignity that we seek in dying must be found in the dignity with which we have lived our lives. Ars moriendi is ars vivendi. The art of dying is the art of living...It is not in the last weeks or days that we compose the message that will be remembered, but in all the decades that preceded them. Who has lived in dignity, dies in dignity." Nuland is a talented writer and he delivers a work that is nothing short of honest, accessible, and insightful. Highly recommended for those preoccupied with life...and death.
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