by Paul Kalanithi, with forward by Abraham Verghese and epilogue by Lucy Kalanithi, 2016, Random House, New York

This book is a memoir by a young neurosurgeon who is just about to complete his residency when he discovers that he has terminal lung cancer.  There is no need to issue a spoiler alert because the outcome of the books is spelled out very early in the book as well as the on the jacket of the book.  As such, it is a very sad story considering the amount of work and effort the author put in to achieving his goals, only to be cut off at the time of his reaching what he thought would be the key to his fulfilment of those goals and the meaning of his life.

Paul had graduated from Stanford with a BA and MA in English Literature and a BA in human biology.  He discovered that his calling in life was to become a neurosurgeon but, when he was diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer, he turned to his background in literature to write this book to leave it as a gift.  It is beautifully written but difficult to read because of the sadness of the eventual outcome.  I found myself trying to imagine dealing with that situation at such a young age with so many dreams unfulfilled.