Death Is a Day Worth Living - by Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes (Hardcover)

About the Book

From leading global voice in palliative care Dr. Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes comes the international bestseller Death Is a Day Worth Living, now in English for the first time. Lyrical and tender, this book outlines a revolutionary vision for us to reconsider the act of dying so that we may fully live.

Book Synopsis

"Although many choose to live as if dead, all have the right to die alive. When my turn comes, I want my life to end in a good way: on that day, I want to be alive."

Dr. Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes's viral TED Talk on end-of-life care cemented her, a palliative care doctor in Brazil, as a global leader on living and dying well. Her international bestseller, Death Is a Day Worth Living, has been translated into eight languages and now is being offered in English for the first time.

Death Is a Day Worth Living touches a universal nerve, speaking to our most intimate moments and to the vital part of who we are as caregivers and loving family members. With her expertise, Dr. Quintana Arantes courageously takes on a subject that continues to be taboo, offering nothing short of a revolutionary way to reconsider the act of dying. We must care for each other, our loved ones, and patients in profound ways, even when there is no longer the possibility of cure.

"It is only through awareness of death that we hasten to build the being that we ought to be," writes Dr. Quintana Arantes as she conveys a powerful sense that we need to--and can--do more to ensure that everyone has a well-managed and lovingly supported death, and that to do so is a celebration of their life and humanity, and those of their caretakers.

Review Quotes

"Ana Claudia is a clear and compassionate guide on a journey into a daunting yet essential topic. Her powerful storytelling reminds us that the beauty of each day is heightened by our willingness to see suffering and mortality as an essential part of living. This book has the potential to change both your life and death." --Roy Remer, executive director of Zen Hospice Project, San Francisco

"A celebration of life that springs from looking clearly and squarely at death. A must-read for anyone living with a serious illness and for anyone serious about living life fully." --Dr. Steven Pantilat, professor of medicine, chief of the division of palliative medicine at the University of California, San Francisco

"Death Is a Day Worth Living addresses a universal need for language around the one experience we will all go through--death. Until we take our last breath, we are very much alive, if we choose to be. Ana Claudia powerfully and poetically speaks to the privilege of being alive until the very end. This profound book reframes everyday life and everyday breath." --Mindy Relyea, certified End of Life Doula and Grief Advocate

"Candid and refreshing, packed with wonderful metaphors about life and death, learned over decades of helping patients near the end of life. Everyone should read this book!" --Eduardo Bruera MD, F. T. McGraw Chair in the Treatment of Cancer, Department of Palliative, Rehabilitation, & Integrative Medicine, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

"Ana Claudia is a rare poem walking on two legs, dressed in a white lab coat, with two eyes shining on every face she encounters. If 'death is the bridge to life, ' her words in Death Is a Day Worth Living become something equally rare: the warm and willing hand clasping yours, walking you across that rickety bridge, under a generous sun." --Dallas Graham, founder and publisher of the Red Fred Project

"Courageously deals with a subject that continues to be taboo." --maisMINAS, Brazil

The big question that surrounds death is, in reality, life." --SAPO

"In this book, [Dr. Ana Claudia Quintana Arantes] proposes a new look at life." --Rolling Stone, Brazil

"It is death you speak about, but it is about life, our life, that you make us think." --DN Life

"A delicious reflection on death--and life." --Jornal do Brasil

"Ambitious and challenging." --Slow Medicine

"Death Is a Day Worth Living can change people's perception of life." --O Globo