A prominent surgeon argues against modern medical practices that extend life at the expense of quality of life while isolating the dying, outlining suggestions for freer, more fulfilling approaches to death that enable more dignified and comfortable choices.

An Oliver Sacks Foundation Best Book of the Year Selection, Finalist for the Books for a Better Life "Best First Book" Award, and a People Magazine Pick in nonfiction. The astounding story of a critically ill musician who is saved by music and returns to the same hospital to help heal others Andrew Schulman, a fifty-seven-year-old professional guitarist, had a close brush with death on the night of July 16, 2009. Against the odds-and with the help...

"A critical care doctor's breathtaking stories about what it means to be saved by modern medicine."--Jacket flap.