At Peace

Dr. Sam Harrington has provided an invaluable road map for all of us facing the challenge of critical end-of-life decisions for friends, family, and ultimately, ourselves. He demystifies medical terminology with an experienced, transparent, and literate guide for boomers like myself, and for our aging parents. How to have the conversation? When to decide that a caring choice is the decision to avoid repeated hospitalizations and over-testing? Here is a medical expert who puts patients and their welfare first. This is an invaluable addition to the literature.—Andrea Mitchell, anchor and correspondent for NBC News

Well researched, clear-eyed, and brilliantly practical. This is a guide and conversation starter for older Americans seeking control and comfort at the end of life. An antidote to modern overmedicalization that's both simple and sage.—Lucy Kalanithi, MD, clinical assistant professor of medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, and author of the epilogue of When Breath Becomes Air, the book by her late husband, Paul Kalanithi

There is no easy way to approach the literally life-and-death questions that are the focus of Samuel Harrington's book. But his spare and graceful clinical tone conveys a deeply humane perspective on choices we all will face. This is a book of wisdom and value for people at any stage of life.—James Fallows, The Atlantic