Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death
As an Amazon Associate and Bookshop.org affiliate, BookMatcher earns from qualifying purchases.
“A thoroughly researched and compelling mix of personal narrative and hard-nosed reporting that captures just how flawed care at the end of life has become” (Abraham Verghese, The New York Times Book Review). This bestselling memoir—hailed a “triumph” by The New York Times—ponders the “Good Death” and the forces within medicine that stand in its way. Award-winning journalist Katy Butler was living thousands of miles from her aging parents when the call came: her beloved seventy-nine-year-old father had suffered a crippling stroke. Katy and her mother joined the more than 28 million Americans who are shepherding loved ones through their final declines. Doctors outfitted her father with a pacemaker, which kept his heart going while doing nothing to prevent a slide into dementia, near-blindness, and misery. When he said, “I’m living too long,” mother and daughter faced wrenching moral questions. Where is the line between saving a life and prolonging a dying? When do you say to a doctor, “Let my loved one go?” When doctors refused to disable the pacemaker, condemning her father to a lingering death, Butler set out to understand why. Her quest had barely begun when her mother, faced with her own grave illness, rebelled against her doctors, refused open-heart surgery, and met death the old-fashioned way: head-on. Part memoir, part medical history, and part spiritual guide, Knocking on Heaven’s Door is a map through the labyrinth of a broken medical system. Technological medicine, obsessed with maximum longevity, is creating more suffering than it prevents. Butler chronicles the rise of Slow Medicine, a movement bent on reclaiming the “Good Deaths” our ancestors prized. In families, hospitals, and the public sphere, this visionary memoir is inspiring the difficult conversations we must have to light the path to a better way of death. “A lyrical meditation written with extraordinary beauty and sensitivity” (San Francisco Chronicle).
Listed under Biography & Autobiography · Personal Memoirs · Family & Relationships · Life Stages
About Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death
What is Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death about?
“A thoroughly researched and compelling mix of personal narrative and hard-nosed reporting that captures just how flawed care at the end of life has become” (Abraham Verghese, The New York Times Book Review). This bestselling memoir—hailed a “triumph” by The New York Times—ponders the “Good Death” and the forces within medicine that stand in its way.
Who wrote Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death?
Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death was written by Katy Butler.
What books are similar to Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death?
Explore our curated recommendations for books like Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death by Katy Butler, matched by theme, writing style, and atmosphere to help you find your next read.
Where can I buy Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death?
You can buy Knocking on Heaven's Door The Path to a Better Way of Death in print or ebook through the Amazon and Bookshop.org links on this page — Bookshop.org purchases also support independent bookstores.