Paul Kalanithi, the author of this touching memoir, died of stage IV lung cancer in March 2015, ten months before the publication of the novel which would not only raise attention to his fate, but also to the general effects of the terrible disease that is cancer (which should never cease to deserve attention; it is a subject too important). When I first opened the pages of this book, what I expected was a clinical description of his disease's course, but Kalanithi surprised me and probably a lot of other people as well. 
 This is a work of reflection. Paul Kalanithi lived for only 37 years, but in the end of his life he was thankful for the experiences he had and the life he was allowed to live, for the woman he married and the career he focused many parts of his life on. His reflections on the illness are touching and moving, but his book is also about his thoughts on doctoring, included many interesting aspects about his time-consuming steps to become a respected doctor and to establish his career as a neurosurgeon. Survived by his wife (who wrote the beautiful afterword to this book) and a daughter, Kalanithi talks about the struggle of first being a doctor treating patients and then, from one day to the next, turning into a patient being treated by doctors. After all, facing mortality is a difficult thing to do for everyone who had to deal with death at a certain point of their lives. And so was it for Kalanithi. 
 I bear a lot of respect for Kalanithi and was incredibly touched by his fate. His prose was not always as natural and flowing as you might wish in a book, but he delivered the best he could, and I am the last person to criticize him for that - especially considering the circumstances under which he wrote these pages. Even more, the book was not as depressing as you might expect in a memoir about cancer. 
 "You can't ever reach perfection, but you can believe in an asymptote toward which you are ceaselessly striving." 
 Paul Kalanithi's words inspired me, his story touched me, and I am grateful for the publication of his book, as what happened to him is so important for so many people. 
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 If you are interested in more insight on Kalanithi, you may be interested in this short video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5u75...