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

256 pages

Average rating: 7.93

834 RATINGS

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Community Reviews

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.
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.
Bookbug1111
Apr 05, 2025
10/10 stars
Loved the way he portrayed the clinical life but ending is not for light hearted.
wardbunch
Mar 26, 2025
10/10 stars
Wish the journey did not have to end. Poignant and heart-wrenching all at the same time. Loved it.

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