The Lost Art of Dying : Reviving Forgotten Wisdom

A Columbia University physician comes across a popular medievaltext on dying well written after the horror of the Black Plague and discoversancient wisdom for rethinking death and gaining insight today on how we canlearn the lost art of dying well in this wise, clear-eyed book that is ascompelling and soulful as Being Mortal, When Breath BecomesAir, and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. As a specialist in both medical ethics and the treatment of older patients, Dr. L. S. Dugdale knows a great deal about the end of life. Far too many of us diepoorly, she argues. Our culture has overly medicalized death: dying is ofteninstitutional and sterile, prolonged by unnecessary resuscitations and otherintrusive interventions.We are not going gently into that good night—ourreliance on modern medicine can actually prolong suffering and strip us of ourdignity.Yet our lives do not have to end this way. Centuriesago, in the wake of the Black Plague, a text was published offering advice tohelp the living prepare for a good death.Written during the late Middle Ages, arsmoriendi—The Art of Dying—madeclear that to die well, one first had to live well and described what practicesbest help us prepare.When Dugdale discovered this Medieval book, it was arevelation.Inspired by its holistic approach to the final stage we must allone day face, she draws from this forgotten work, combining its wisdom with theknowledge she has gleaned from her long medical career.The Lost Art of Dying is atwenty-first century ars moriendi, filled with much-needed insight andthoughtful guidance that will change our perceptions.By recovering our senseof finitude, confronting our fears, accepting how our bodies age, developingmeaningful rituals, and involving our communities in end-of-life care, we candiscover what it means to both live and die well. And like the original arsmoriendi, The Lost Art of Dying includes nine black-and-white drawingsfrom artist Michael W.Dugger. Dr. Dugdale offers a hopeful perspective on death and dying as she shows us how toadapt the wisdom from the past to our lives today.The Lost Art of Dying is a vital, affectingbook that reconsiders death, death culture, and how we can transform how welive each day, including our last.