Being Mortal
by Atul Gawande
★ Top 25 book of 2014 · #15 on Best Books of 2014
A surgeon examines how medicine handles the end of life, including hospice care, and mixes in personal stories and reflections. His central argument is that care should prioritize a person's well-being instead of simply prolonging survival.
Best for: Readers curious about end-of-life care and what medicine should prioritize
Being Mortal is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 2014, out of 66 2014 books that cleared our data bar.
What Being Mortal is about
Surgeon Atul Gawande turns his attention to a subject medicine often avoids: what care should look like when life is drawing to a close. Drawing on his own reflections and personal stories, he looks at end-of-life care and hospice care, and he argues that medical care should aim at well-being rather than simply at survival.
The tone is thoughtful, compassionate and candid, and the questions it raises reach well beyond hospitals, touching on aging, quality of life and what matters most to us at the end. It will help anyone caring for an ageing parent, anyone facing a serious illness, and doctors and nurses who want to think about how they talk with patients. It has won awards, appeared on best-book lists and been featured in a documentary.
Being Mortal on the Best Books of 2014
Being Mortal came out in 2014. Of the 66 books first published in 2014 that met BookWard's data bar, it ranks #15 on our Best Books of 2014 list.
Why it made the list: 489 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (41 ratings); 25 are reading it right now. The list ranks each year’s books on how many readers have picked them up, how highly readers rate them, and how many are reading them right now.
It earns Reader favorite.
Nearby on the 2014 list
- The Assassin’s Blade Sarah J. Maas, #13
- Roller Girl Victoria Jamieson, #14
- Red Rising Pierce Brown, #16
- Mr. Mercedes Stephen King, #17
See all Best Books of 2014 Best books by year
More years: Best Books of 2013 Best Books of 2015.
The numbers behind it
- Readers: 408 want to read it, 25 are reading it now and 56 have read it, according to Open Library.
- Ratings: 4.5 out of 5 from 41 Open Library ratings.
| Signal | This book (0 to 100) | Weight |
|---|---|---|
| Reach | 64 | 55% |
| Reader love | 92 | 25% |
| Being read right now | 61 | 20% |
Questions about Being Mortal
When was Being Mortal published?
Being Mortal by Atul Gawande was first published in 2014.
Was Being Mortal one of the best books of 2014?
Being Mortal is #15 on BookWard's Best Books of 2014, out of 66 2014 books that cleared our data bar. 489 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (41 ratings); 25 are reading it right now.
Why is Being Mortal on the Best Books of 2014 list?
489 readers have shelved it on Open Library; readers rate it 4.5 out of 5 (41 ratings); 25 are reading it right now.
More of the best books of 2014
- To All the Boys I've Loved Before Jenny Han, #1
- The Long Haul Jeff Kinney, #2
- Surrounded by Idiots Thomas Erikson, #3
- Zero to One Peter A. Thiel, #4
- After (After Series, Book 1) Anna Todd, #5
- All the Light We Cannot See Anthony Doerr, #6
See the full Best Books of 2014, the Top 100, or new books on Rising.
How we know
This page uses public data: Open Library reader counts and ratings, and Wikipedia page views for recent years. The description is paraphrased from real source text. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Lists update monthly.
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