PaperbackMemoir & real lives
Download When Breath Becomes Air EPUB & PDF
Identity, mortality, and the meaning of a life.
Paul Kalanithi’s work as a neurosurgeon placed him close to questions of identity and mortality. A diagnosis of terminal cancer made those questions personal. When Breath Becomes Air follows that change in perspective, bringing medicine, literature and family into the same conversation. It is a memoir about how a person understands a life when the future they expected is no longer available.
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Vintage Publishing
- Edition date
- 5 Jan 2017
- ISBN-13
- 9781784701994
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A closer look
Before you turn the first page.
The question behind the memoir
The starting point is a reversal: someone trained to care for patients becomes a patient himself. That makes this a useful choice if you are looking for personal reflection rather than a general account of a medical career. Its description connects professional identity with family and literature. The interest lies in how those parts of a life are reconsidered together, rather than in a promise of a simple answer to grief or uncertainty.
Make room for the subject
Terminal illness, dying and parenthood are central subjects, not incidental plot points. Consider that emotional territory when choosing when to read it or whether to give it to someone else. A preference for reflective nonfiction may be a better reason to choose this book than a wish for a reassuring message. The catalogue notes describe its subject; they do not offer medical guidance or claim to predict how an individual reader will respond.
Check the edition before buying
The edition recorded here is a Vintage Publishing paperback, ISBN 9781784701994, with an edition date of 5 January 2017. Match that identifier if you want this particular format. An audiobook or ebook is a separate purchase decision, and the retailer should confirm its delivery method and compatibility. Our ISBN guide explains why a title search alone is less precise than checking the edition details.
Readers & editions
How readers find this book.
- Want to read
- 981
- Reading now
- 48
- Have read it
- 65
- Reader rating
- 4.2/5 · 43 ratings
Subjects
Other editions & translations
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When Breath Becomes Air
ISBN 9781984801821 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
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When Breath Becomes Air
ISBN 9781529110944 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
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When Breath Becomes Air - Khi Hơi Thở Hóa Thinh Không
ISBN 9786045994474 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
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Quando il respiro si fa aria. Un medico, la sua malattia e il vero significato della vita
ISBN 9788804675952 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
-
When Breath Becomes Air
ISBN 9781548493486 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
-
When Breath Becomes Air Exp
ISBN 9780399590405 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
-
Quand le souffle rejoint le ciel
ISBN 9782709658041 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
-
Andartak eilífðar
ISBN 9789979224174 Get on Amazon (opens in a new tab)
Meet the authors
About the author
Digital reading tips
The format guideHow to convert between EPUB, PDF and MOBI
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Send to Kindle
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See the stepsApple & Kobo
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The details behind this edition
- Full title
- When Breath Becomes Air: The ultimate moving life-and-death story
- Language
- Not specified in the catalogue record
- Pages
- 256 (Open Library)
- ISBN
- 9781784701994
Reading notes updated 16 October 2026.