"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 ...
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"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 isinspiring the difficult conversations we must have to light the path to a better way of death.
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Seller's Description:
Good. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. May show signs of wear, highlighting, writing, and previous use. This item may be a former library book with typical markings. No guarantee on products that contain supplements Your satisfaction is 100% guaranteed. Twenty-five year bookseller with shipments to over fifty million happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
Fine. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
New. Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 368 p. In Stock. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Brand New, Perfect Condition, allow 4-14 business days for standard shipping. To Alaska, Hawaii, U.S. protectorate, P.O. box, and APO/FPO addresses allow 4-28 business days for Standard shipping. No expedited shipping. All orders placed with expedited shipping will be cancelled. Over 3, 000, 000 happy customers.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. This item is in overall acceptable condition. Covers and dust jackets are intact but may have heavy wear including creases, bends, edge wear, curled corners or minor tears as well as stickers or sticker-residue. Pages are intact but may have minor curls, bends or moderate to considerable highlighting/ writing. Binding is intact; however, spine may have heavy wear. A well-read copy overall. Please note that all items are donated goods and are in used condition. Orders shipped Monday through Friday! Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Orders shipped Monday through Friday. Your purchase helps put people to work and learn life skills to reach their full potential. Thank you!
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Seller's Description:
The item shows wear from consistent use, but it remains in good condition and works perfectly. All pages and cover are intact (including the dust cover, if applicable). Spine may show signs of wear. Pages may include limited notes and highlighting. May NOT include discs, access code or other supplemental materials.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. A readable copy. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Dust jacket may be missing. Pages can include considerable highlighting markings writing but cannot obscure the text. May be an Ex-lib. copy and have standard library stamps and or stickers. May NOT include discs or access code or other supplemental material. We ship Monday-Saturday and respond to inquiries within 24 hours.
I also bought copies to give to my 2 daughters so they'll have guidance when my husband & I become the very elderly. The book is excellent.
MorningReader
Mar 20, 2014
A Tough, but Important Read
After losing my own parents and then my in-laws. I remembered feeling very torn by how I'd like my last years on earth to be. Katy Butler offers great insight to being enmeshed in the medical system at a time when there is really no cure for dying. After telling her experiences, she offers suggestions for other avenues we can take instead of visits to the ER or nursing facilities. I'm keeping her book as a resource for me someday. At 65 I was happy to learn that it's okay to accept death and not prolong the dying.
