When Breath Becomes Air

By Paul Kalanithi

Categories: Biographies & Memoirs

At thirty-six, almost done with a decade of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying; the next, a patient fighting to live. In this memoir he traces his path from a medical student obsessed with what makes a meaningful life to a neurosurgeon at Stanford, and finally to a patient and new father facing his own death. Kalanithi died in 2015 while writing it.

Recommended by 8 people

• Tim Cook
• Shauna Niequist
• Peter King
• Melinda French Gates: “What a gift Kalanithi gave us by sharing—beautifully and bravely—his perspectives on mortality.”
• Bill Gates
• Tim Ferriss: “I’m so glad and grateful that one close friend pushed me to finally absorb this beautiful book.”
• Ryan Holiday
• Shane Parrish: “It’s been a while since I’ve cried reading a book. This beautifully written memoir, by a young neurosurgeon diagnosed with terminal cancer, attempts to answer the question What makes a life worth living? If you read this and you’re not feeling something you’re probably a robot”