Modern Death

"Elegant and poignant . . . [Warraich] succeeds in humanizing a complex topic and gives us remarkable insights about the changing nature of 'modern death'." ―Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York Times–bestselling author of The Emperor of All Maladies

There is no more universal truth in life than death but the mechanics and understanding of that experience will differ greatly in today's modern age.

Dr. Haider Warraich is a brilliant new voice in the conversation about death and dying started by Dr. Sherwin Nuland and Atul Gawande. Dr. Warraich takes a broader look at how we die today, from the cellular level up to the very definition of death itself. The most basic aspects of dying—the whys, wheres, whens, and hows—are almost nothing like what they were mere decades ago. Beyond its ecology, epidemiology, and economics, the very ethos of death has changed.

Modern Death will explore the rituals and language of dying that have developed in the last century, and how modern technology has not only changed the hows, whens, and wheres of death, but the what of death. Delving into the vast body of research on the evolving nature of death, Modern Death will provide readers with an enriched understanding of how death differs from the past, what our ancestors got right, and how trends and events have transformed this most final of human experiences.

"Warraich['s] story is filled with compassionate accounts of the different ways he has witnessed people meet death in the modern age."―Scientific American

"A much-needed exploration . . . offering clear-eyed analysis of what it means to die in America today and how to focus one's own life toward a saner and gentler denouement."―Danielle Ofri, MD, PhD, author of What Patients Say; What Doctors Hear