Being Mortal

Description

For most of human history, death was a common, ever-present possibility. It didn't matter whether you were five or fifty - every day was a roll of the dice. But now, as medical advances push the boundaries of survival, we have become increasingly detached from the reality of being mortal. So here is a story about the modern experience of mortality and how medicine has changed this and where our ideas about death have gone wrong. Atul Gawande outlines a story that crosses the globe, as he examines his experiences as a surgeon and those of his patients and family and learns to accept the limits of what he can do.