The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America

Hannig, Anita

ISBN 10: 1728259428 / ISBN 13: 9781728259420

Published by Sourcebooks, 2023

May have limited writing in cover pages. Pages are unmarked. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G1728259428I4N00

Synopsis:

"Copies of this book should be in every doctor's office in the country, to educate patients and doctors themselves!" -Diane Rehm, interviewer and narrator of the PBS documentary When My Time Comes

An intimate investigation of assisted dying in America and what it means to determine the end of our lives.

In this groundbreaking book, award-winning cultural anthropologist Anita Hannig brings us into the lives of ordinary Americans who go to extraordinary lengths to set the terms of their own death. Faced with a terminal diagnosis and unbearable suffering, they decide to seek medical assistance in dying-a legal option now available to one in five Americans.

Drawing on five years of research on the frontlines of assisted dying, Hannig unearths the uniquely personal narratives masked by a polarized national debate. Among them are Ken, an irreverent ninety-year-old blues musician who invites his family to his death, dons his best clothes, and goes out singing; Derianna, a retired nurse and midwife who treks through Oregon and Washington to guide dying patients across life's threshold; and Bruce, a scrappy activist with Parkinson's disease who fights to expand access to the law, not knowing he would soon, in an unexpected twist of fate, become eligible himself.

Lyrical and lucid, sensitive but never sentimental, The Day I Die tackles one of the most urgent social issues of our time: how to restore dignity and meaning to the dying process in the age of high-tech medicine. Meticulously researched and compassionately rendered, the book exposes the tight legal restrictions, frustrating barriers to access, and corrosive cultural stigma that can undermine someone's quest for an assisted death-and why they persist in achieving the departure they desire.

The Day I Die will transform the way we think about agency and closure in the face of death. Its colorful characters remind us what we all stand to gain when we confront the hard-and yet ultimately liberating-truth of our mortality.

About the Author:

Anita Hannig is an applied anthropologist whose work explores the cultural dimensions of medicine. In recent years, Anita has emerged as a leading voice on death literacy in America, giving interviews for the Washington Post, USA Today, and the Boston Globe. She is the author of the critically acclaimed book The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted Dying in America. Her writing has also appeared in Cognoscenti, the Seattle Times, and Undark Magazine, among other places. In her free time, Anita enjoys trail running and backpacking in the great outdoors, pursuits that sporadically bring her back in touch with her own mortality.

Bibliographic Details

Title: The Day I Die: The Untold Story of Assisted ...
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Publication Date: 2023
Binding: Paperback
Condition: Very Good
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket