Overview

"A reassuring and thoroughly researched guide to maintaining a high quality of life--from resilient old age to the first inklings of a serious illness to the final breath--by the New York Times bestselling author of Knocking on Heaven's Door.The Art of Dying Well is about living as well as possible for as long as possible and adapting successfully to change. Packed with extraordinarily helpful insights and inspiring true stories, award-winning journalist and prominent end-of-life expert Katy Butler shows how to thrive in later life (even when coping with a chronic medical condition), how to get the best from our health system, and how to make your own ""good death"" more likely. This handbook of step by step preparations--practical, communal, physical, and sometimes spiritual--will help you make the most of your remaining time, be it decades, years, or months. Butler explains how to successfully age in place and delay decline, why to pick a younger doctor and how to have an honest conversation with her, when not to call 911, and how to make your death a sacred rite of passage rather than a medical event. This down-to-earth manual for living, aging and dying with meaning and even joy is based on Butler's own experience caring for aging parents, as well as hundreds of interviews with people who have successfully navigated a fragmented health system and helped their loved ones have good deaths. It also draws on advice from nationally recognized experts in family medicine, palliative care, geriatrics, oncology, hospice, and other medical specialties. Inspired by the medieval death manual Ars Moriendi, or the Art of Dying, The Art of Dying Well is the definitive update for our modern age, and illuminates the path to a better end of life."

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9781508281344

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Reviews

"The Art of Dying Well is the best guidebook I know of for navigating the later stages of life. Katy Butler's counsel is simple and practical, but the impact of this book is profound. A remarkable feat. -- ""Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well"" The Art of Dying Well is a guide to just that: how to face the inevitable in an artful way. Katy Butler has clear eyes and speaks plainly about complicated decisions. This book is chock-full of good ideas. -- ""Sallie Tisdale, author of Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them)"" No, you won't survive your death, but you can live until the very last moment without the pain and humiliation that inevitably accompany an overmedicalized dying process. Katy Butler shows how, and I am profoundly grateful to her for doing so. -- ""Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times bestselling author"" This book is filled with deep knowledge and many interesting experiences. It is a guide for staying as healthy and happy as possible while aging, and also shows how important it is to be medically informed and know our rights in the communities where we live, in order to stay in charge of our lives and therefore less afraid of the future. Katy Butler has written a very honest book. I just wish I had read it ten years ago. You can do it now! -- "" Margareta Magnusson, author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning "" Butler is an amazing and generous writer. This book will change you, and, I hope, our society. -- ""Anne Lamott, author of Hallelujah Anyway"""

Butler is an amazing and generous writer. This book will change you, and, I hope, our society. -- Anne Lamott, author of Hallelujah Anyway This book is filled with deep knowledge and many interesting experiences. It is a guide for staying as healthy and happy as possible while aging, and also shows how important it is to be medically informed and know our rights in the communities where we live, in order to stay in charge of our lives and therefore less afraid of the future. Katy Butler has written a very honest book. I just wish I had read it ten years ago. You can do it now! -- Margareta Magnusson, author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning No, you won't survive your death, but you can live until the very last moment without the pain and humiliation that inevitably accompany an overmedicalized dying process. Katy Butler shows how, and I am profoundly grateful to her for doing so. -- Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times bestselling author The Art of Dying Well is a guide to just that: how to face the inevitable in an artful way. Katy Butler has clear eyes and speaks plainly about complicated decisions. This book is chock-full of good ideas. -- Sallie Tisdale, author of Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) The Art of Dying Well is the best guidebook I know of for navigating the later stages of life. Katy Butler's counsel is simple and practical, but the impact of this book is profound. A remarkable feat. -- Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well

No, you won't survive your death, but you can live until the very last moment without the pain and humiliation that inevitably accompany an overmedicalized dying process. Katy Butler shows how, and I am profoundly grateful to her for doing so. -- Barbara Ehrenreich, New York Times bestselling author The Art of Dying Well is the best guidebook I know of for navigating the later stages of life. Katy Butler's counsel is simple and practical, but the impact of this book is profound. A remarkable feat. -- Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well The Art of Dying Well is a guide to just that: how to face the inevitable in an artful way. Katy Butler has clear eyes and speaks plainly about complicated decisions. This book is chock-full of good ideas. -- Sallie Tisdale, author of Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) This book is filled with deep knowledge and many interesting experiences. It is a guide for staying as healthy and happy as possible while aging, and also shows how important it is to be medically informed and know our rights in the communities where we live, in order to stay in charge of our lives and therefore less afraid of the future. Katy Butler has written a very honest book. I just wish I had read it ten years ago. You can do it now! -- Margareta Magnusson, author of The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning Butler is an amazing and generous writer. This book will change you, and, I hope, our society. -- Anne Lamott, author of Hallelujah Anyway

Butler is an amazing and generous writer. This book will change you, and, I hope, our society. -- Anne Lamott, author of Hallelujah Anyway

Author Information

Katy Butler's is the author of the critically acclaimed Knocking on Heaven's Door, a New York Times Notable Book, shortlisted for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and winner of a Books for a Better Life Award. Her articles have appeared in the New York Times Magazine, the Wall Street Journal, The Best American Science Writing, Scientific American, and The Best American Essays. A finalist for a National Magazine Award, she lives in Northern California.

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