A Matter of Death and Life

'Our time together is limited and exceedingly precious. We write to make sense of our existence, even as it sweeps us into the darkest zones of physical decline, and death.'

After spending a lifetime together, Irvin and Marilyn Yalom confront in alternating chapters the reality of Marilyn's terminal cancer diagnosis in this profoundly moving, tender and loving memoir. From Irvin's work in psychotherapy examining our fear of death, compounded with personal experience, A Matter of Death and Life seeks to answer questions that we all hold about the end of our lives: How much are we willing to bear to stay alive? How can we end our days as painlessly as possible? How can we gracefully leave this world to the next generation?

Told at first in alternating chapters between them, completed in the aftermath of Marilyn's death, A Matter of Death and Life is an unforgettable portrait of love and unflinchingly examines what it means to live and die well.