With the End in Mind: Dying, Death, and Wisdom in an Age of Denial

For readers of Atul Gawande and Paul Kalanithi, a palliative care doctor's breathtaking stories from 30 years spent caring for the dying.

Modern medical technology is allowing us to live longer and fuller lives than ever before. And for the most part, that is good news. But with changes in the way we understand medicine come changes in the way we understand death. Once a familiar, peaceful, and gentle -- if sorrowful -- transition, death has come to be something from which we shield our eyes, as we prefer to fight desperately against it rather than accept its inevitability.

Dr. Kathryn Mannix has studied and practiced palliative care for thirty years. In With the End in Mind, she shares beautifully crafted stories from a lifetime of caring for the dying, and makes a compelling case for the therapeutic power of approaching death not with trepidation, but with openness, clarity, and understanding. Weaving the details of her own experiences as a caregiver through stories of her patients, their families, and their distinctive lives, Dr. Mannix reacquaints us with the universal, but deeply personal, process of dying.

With insightful meditations on life, death, and the space between them, With the End in Mind describes the possibility of meeting death gently, with forethought and preparation, and shows the unexpected beauty, dignity, and profound humanity of life coming to an end.

• Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A Practical Perspective on Death and Dying
• The The Universal Christ:
• The Art of Dying Well: A Practical Guide to a Good End of Life
• The Grace in Dying : How We Are Transformed Spiritually as We Die
• The Four Things That Matter Most - 10th Anniversary Edition: A Book About Living
• At Peace: Choosing a Good Death After a Long Life
• Staring at the Sun: Overcoming the Terror of Death
• Being with Dying: Cultivating Compassion and Fearlessness in the Presence of Death
• Knocking on Heaven's Door: The Path to a Better Way of Death
• How We Die: Reflections of Life's Final Chapter, New Edition