When Breath Becomes Air

**THE MILLION COPY BESTSELLER**

'Rattling. Heartbreaking. Beautiful.' Atul Gawande, bestselling author of Being Mortal

What makes life worth living in the face of death?

At the age of thirty-six, on the verge of completing a decade's training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, the next he was a patient struggling to live.

When Breath Becomes Air chronicles Kalanithi's transformation from a medical student asking what makes a virtuous and meaningful life into a neurosurgeon working in the core of human identity - the brain - and finally into a patient and a new father.

Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

'A vital book about dying. Awe-inspiring and exquisite. Obligatory reading for the living' Nigella Lawson

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Published Jan 5, 2017

240 pages

Average rating: 7.94

877 RATINGS

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What Bookclubbers are saying about this book

✨ Summarized by Bookclubs AI

Readers say *When Breath Becomes Air* is a deeply moving and beautifully written memoir exploring life, death, and meaning through the eyes of a termi...

Across the Globe Book Buddies

Oct 19, 2025

10/10 stars

I have never sobbed as I did at the end of this book. Sure, when Harry met Minnie choked me up throughout, and Charlotte "staying at the fair" was hard, but WBBA left me intermittently reading a line/a few, closing the book and sobbing, and trying again.
OhMyGod...it's hard to call it a beautiful story. It's hard not to. Maybe it's better saying parts of it are beautiful, while also gut-wrenching. The writing was amazing (to me). That the author was a doctor (granted, strong background and foundation as a reader/writer), I was impressed with the manner in which he composed his thoughts and conveyed them to an audience.
There was one part that REALLY burned my *rse. That m*th*r f*ck*r who pushed back on the meds the author requested. I really, really, REALLY dislike that guy.
I need to do more research, but without understanding why it was done - or in this case not, I do not like that the author's title is not listed alongside his name.

KikiStoneCreek

Jun 03, 2023

10/10 stars

Absolutely beautiful writing. Something of profound value on every page, yet book reads so easily. I highly recommend this book to everyone.

PerpetualRevision

Dec 22, 2025

10/10 stars

What an amazing person Paul was, following his quest for meaning through literature, philosophy, medicine, and neuroscience, and ultimately through his reflections on his own life as it was ending. He achieved so much in his short life, bringing such skill and also humanity to his practice as a neurosurgery resident. It's hard not to mourn for the philosopher surgeon he would've continued to develop into.

I can't even imagine how much he must've struggled to get this book written, but I'm very glad he accomplished this one last amazing goal.

Keona

Dec 21, 2025

8/10 stars

The book really got me thinking and the epilogue tore me I knew he was gonna doe but still made me tear up when he did the picture at the end surprised me btw

AdriaWilson

Apr 15, 2025

8/10 stars

When Breath Becomes Air is a beautifully tragic yet analytical examination of human suffering and how it can reveal deeper truths about life’s purpose. Despite his immense success as a student and neurosurgery resident, Dr. Kalanithi was not without flaws. The clinical and, at times, detached tone he used to recount his life, diagnosis, and impending death reflected his internal struggle between his roles as doctor and patient. His journey was one of relinquishing control over his terminal illness while reclaiming agency over his core values and identity. Yet, in the end, he couldn’t help but write about his own sickness and experience as a patient in the voice of a clinical surgeon. His words reflected those of a deeply academic man, someone whose life up until his diagnosis had been dedicated to long-term goals and the pursuit of intellectual growth, now grappling with mortality and forced to distill that lifelong ambition down to his daily intentions and presence. His wife's epilogue made me cry so hard. So hard.