When Breath Becomes Air: Pulitzer Prize Finalist

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi – a #1 New York Times Bestseller and Pulitzer Prize Finalist – is a deeply inspiring and profoundly moving memoir that seeks to answer the timeless question: What makes life worth living in the face of death?

At thirty-six, just as he was about to complete nearly a decade of training to become a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. In an instant, he went from doctor treating the dying to a patient fighting for his own life. This book captures his transformation—from an idealistic medical student driven by questions of meaning, to a skilled brain surgeon at Stanford, and finally to a new father confronting his own mortality.

Kalanithi reflects on life’s deepest questions: What gives life purpose when death is near? How do you keep living when the future you planned disappears? What does it mean to bring new life into the world as your own fades away?

Though Paul passed away before finishing the book, his words endure as a powerful legacy of courage, wisdom, and humanity. When Breath Becomes Air stands as an unforgettable meditation on the fragility of life and the resilience of the human spirit—reminding us, in his own words: “I can’t go on. I’ll go on.”