{"product_id":"being-mortal-medicine-and-what-matters-in-the-end-9780805095159","title":"Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn \u003ci\u003eBeing Mortal\u003c\/i\u003e, bestselling author Atul Gawande tackles the hardest challenge of his profession: how medicine can not only improve life but also the process of its ending\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMedicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming birth, injury, and infectious disease from harrowing to manageable. But in the inevitable condition of aging and death, the goals of medicine seem too frequently to run counter to the interest of the human spirit. Nursing homes, preoccupied with safety, pin patients into railed beds and wheelchairs. Hospitals isolate the dying, checking for vital signs long after the goals of cure have become moot. Doctors, committed to extending life, continue to carry out devastating procedures that in the end extend suffering.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eGawande, a practicing surgeon, addresses his profession's ultimate limitation, arguing that quality of life is the desired goal for patients and families. Gawande offers examples of freer, more socially fulfilling models for assisting the infirm and dependent elderly, and he explores the varieties of hospice care to demonstrate that a person's last weeks or months may be rich and dignified.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFull of eye-opening research and riveting storytelling, \u003ci\u003eBeing Mortal\u003c\/i\u003e asserts that medicine can comfort and enhance our experience even to the end, providing not only a good life but also a good end.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Metropolitan Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\/07\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780805095159\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 282\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.85lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.30h x 5.80w x 1.20d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e New England Book Award - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e L.A. Times Book Prize - Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Books for a Better Life - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAward:\u003c\/b\u003e Indies Choice Book Awards - Winner\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal Prepub Alert\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2014 pg. 50\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews Fall Preview\u003c\/i\u003e 08\/15\/2014 pg. 29\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2014 pg. 8\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/10\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/16\/2014 pg. 26\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/09\/2014 pg. 14\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNY Times Notable Bks of Year\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/07\/2014 pg. 27\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eShelf Awareness\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/12\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/10\/2014 pg. 25\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist Editors Choice\/Adult\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/01\/2015 pg. 8\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e 01\/08\/2015 pg. 20\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookPage\u003c\/i\u003e 10\/01\/2014\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/i\u003e 02\/18\/2015 pg. 32\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/17\/2015 pg. 28\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eChoice\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/01\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e 05\/15\/2014\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Atul Gawande","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36643925852316,"sku":"9780805095159","price":28.04,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_391ea737-ce16-4d0d-b80d-e52d9d3608f4.jpg?v=1603857550","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/being-mortal-medicine-and-what-matters-in-the-end-9780805095159","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}