Dying: A Memoir [Hardcover]

An eloquent plea for a more humane approach to death and a moving meditation on the life that leads to that end. . . .?There is an ever expanding body of literature on coming to terms with mortality, and this entry ranks with the best.Honest, powerful, and moving . . . A deeply personal conversation about the alchemy of death, this brave memoir reveals the intimacy of the act, where 'we're like the last survivors on a sinking ship, huddled together for warmth.'This slender volume brings a fresh point of view to end-of-life care, the concept of having a sense of control over the unknown, and the role of chance in life. This deep meditation is beautifully written and destined to be an important piece of the conversation surrounding death. Taylors last testament to life is a welcome departing gift from a thoughtful and inspired author.An electrifying book about dying thats part dreamy reminiscence, part philosophical monograph. The author, reckoning with Stage 4 melanoma, demystifies the final experience of our lives, exploring questions of control, fear and regret. My copy is underlined like a composition notebook. 'For what are we,' Taylor asks, 'if not a body taking a mind for a walk, just to see whats there?'If a more open discussion of death is needed in the West, Taylors?book is a manual for the task. It is full of wisdom and vulnerability; it is?also profoundly reassuring.?Dying, she repeatedly says, is deeply lonely. No?one can do it with you. But this book might be a companion, made all the more?solid by its lack of sentimentality and any?other false comforts.This small, powerful book offers a cleanengagement with lifes conclusion: with clarity and courage, the author findswords to escort us towards silence.Cory Taylor's book is both a precise and movingmemoir about the randomness of family, and an admirable intellectual responseto the randomness of life and death. We should all hope for as vivid alooking-back, and as cogent a looking-forwalã