That Good Night: A Reflection on Life and Medicine at the End of Life

Valerie Sotero: The book had a good perspective from the doctors side in the care they recommend during a loved one’s life threatening medical condition. I thought of questions I need to ask my loved ones on my care if I can’t speak for myself or if they can’t speak for themselves. Ultimately she shared that we need to have our own understanding of how we want to live and what treatments we will allow while in treatment. Will it diminish our goals of how we love while we are alive? Example, Will having dialysis allow me to live a productive life or will it just allow me to live a bit longer bed bound and am I okay with that? I am not doing this book justice, but I loved it.

United States on Jan 01, 2024

Ms. J.: I listened to this book and loved it! Everyone should have access to a doctor like the author for their end of life decisions. She illustrates the best way to talk to doctors and families about palliative care and how to decide when the end of life should be the end.

United States on Sep 20, 2023

DSK: This primarily a memoir, but also offers LOTS of examples of end of life decisions points... Well worth reading and pondering. I wish Dr. Puri could teach so many physicians NOT to be afraid to discuss these issues!

United States on Aug 25, 2023

Alan W. Wilkerson: What a gift of a book. Sunita, Dr Puri, gives herself to her patients in a way that makes me cry. If I'm ever in a similar situation, fearful of death, unsure of continuing medical intervention or not, I want her, or someone trained by her, to help me and my loved ones understand my options, our options to be able to die gracefully, comfortably and naturally! This book is as much spiritual as it is medical... both are needed when our mortal time is short!

United States on May 09, 2023

Simon Edwards: Death and or imminent death I can acknowledge is not easy to discuss.for the patient, families and doctors. The patient’s and families walking this very dark journey are relying on doctors and others to light up their pathway. However, death will come no matter how dark or bright the journey. As different as we are in life so we are when it comes to our understanding of death, so a big thanks for this book as it helped to see and understand both sides of very complex stories

United Kingdom on Apr 16, 2023

carolynmharper: I rarely sit down and read a book nonstop, especially a non-fiction book. This book, however, gripped me from the start and I couldn’t put it down. Dr Puri is a gifted writer as well as a compassionate, gifted physician. She carefully walks her reader through the emotional roller coaster that discussing palliative care is for patients, their families, and their physicians, as well as the palliative care team. This is an area of medicine that is still in its infancy yet is critical to good end-of-life care. Learning how to handle these discussions with respect, compassion, and dignity is crucial for all involved. This is a beautifully written book and I highly recommend it.

United States on Mar 27, 2023

Michael Fonf: A powerful true story from the viewpoint of a Palliative Care physician brining to light how we cope differently with bad news and end-of life-issues.

Canada on Jan 08, 2023

zareku: I was introduced to Dr. Puri through a documentary series that The Guardian did on how different people face the idea of death. Dr. Puri's segment was focused on palliative care in a hospital space (whereas other parts of the documentary talked about people avoiding death, people planning death, etc.) Right away I was drawn to Dr. Puri's empathy and the compassion in her voice with patients nearing the end of life.

That Good Life weaves memories of Dr. Puri's journey through medical school in addition to her upbringing in a particularly spiritual family. She talks a lot in particular about the relationship with her mother (also a doctor) and her father, and how those relationships shaped her into the kind of doctor that she is today. It's beautifully written.

You don't necessarily need to be involved in medicine to enjoy this book - though I have to say that my favourite parts of the book were the various social conundrums that Dr. Puri would have to face speaking with the (often difficult) families of terminal patients. I'd recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how palliative medicine works - or just a very high level look at how humans react when their...

Canada on Jul 05, 2021

Tarun Varma: The book compels us to think and ponder on life under difficult situations and emotionally enriching and helps you to absolve from guilt associated with unsure decisions taken
The book also shows that the best way to LIVE LIFE is to LEAVE while amongst near and dear ones

India on Dec 05, 2019

Megha: The book is a beautiful memoir of the authors journey through training in Medicine and Palliative care. I'm a Neonatologist myself and I was enthralled by her descriptions of the outsides and Insides of a doctor's life. I love how she has recounted the fact of her Indian heritage and how it interweaves into her spirituality as she literally dances with Death everyday. Having been in palliative care situations at work and in my own life ( my father died of Glioblastoma ,fortunately in his own bed ) I found her description of the challenges and gifts of her specialty both poignant and fresh.
Gorgeous book. I would recommend it first to physicians who ,as she points out ,are reluctant to see Death as anything but an enemy . And then to anybody who is ever going to die. Just like all boooks that are memorable ,it puts Death and dying in context. And of course ,it's only when one is living as if one is going to die,is one living at all !

India on Jun 17, 2019