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By Atul Gawande Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post , The New York Times Book Review , NPR, and Chicago Tribune, now in paperback with a new reading group guide Medicine has triumphed in modern times, transforming the dangers of childbirth, injury, and disease from harrowing to manageable. But when it comes to the inescapable realities of aging and death, what medicine can do often runs counter to what it should. Through eye-opening research and gripping stories of his own patients and family, Gawande reveals the suffering this dynamic has produced. Nursing homes, devoted above all to safety, battle with residents over the food they are allowed to eat and the choices they are allowed to make. Doctors, uncomfortable discussing patients' anxieties about death, fall back on false hopes and treatments that are actually shortening lives instead of improving them. In his bestselling books, Atul Gawande, a practicing surgeon, has fearlessly revealed the struggles of his profession. Here he examines its ultimate limitations and failures—in his own practices as well as others'—as life draws to a close. Riveting, honest, and humane, Being Mortal shows how the ultimate goal is not a good death but a good life—all the way to the very end. AWARDS • 2014 Buzzfeed Best Books of the Year long-listed • 2015 Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year long-listed • 2014 Amazon.com Best Books of the Year long-listed • 2015 Audie Award Finalist short-listed • 2014 Los Angeles Times Holiday Books Guide long-listed • 2014 The Economist Magazine Books of the Year long-listed • 2015 National MS Society Books for a Better Life Award Winner winner • 2014 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers long-listed • 2014 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Guide to the 100 Best Books of the Year long-listed • 2014 Barnes and Noble Best New Books of the Year long-listed • 2015 Indies Choice Book Awards Winner winner • 2014 NPR Best Book of the…