When Breath Becomes Air: Pulitzer Prize Finalist

At thirty-six, neurosurgeon Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer while completing a decade of training. When Breath Becomes Air chronicles his transformation from a medical student questioning what makes life meaningful, through his work as a neurosurgeon at Stanford, to his experience as a patient confronting his own mortality. The memoir explores questions Kalanithi grappled with: What makes life worth living in the face of death? What happens when the future becomes a perpetual present rather than a path toward goals? What does it mean to have a child while facing one's own fading life? Kalanithi died in March 2015 while working on this book. The work reflects on facing death and the relationship between doctor and patient, drawing on Kalanithi's experience in both roles. It was a finalist for the PEN Center USA Literary Award in Creative Nonfiction and the Books for a Better Life Award in Inspirational Memoir.