The Good Death

An Exploration of Dying in America

By: Ann Neumann

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Following the death of her father, journalist and hospice volunteer Ann Neumann sets out to examine what it means to die well in the United States. When Ann Neumann's father was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, she left her job and moved back to her hometown of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She became his full-time caregiver - cooking, cleaning, and administering medications. When her father died, she was undone by the experience, by grief and the visceral quality of dying. Neumann struggled to put her life back in order and found herself haunted by a question: Was her father's death a good death?

The way we talk about dying and the way we actually die are two very different things, she discovered, and many of us are shielded from what death actually looks like. To gain a better understanding, Neumann became a hospice volunteer and set out to discover what a good death is today. She attended conferences, academic lectures, and grief sessions in church basements. She went to Montana to talk with the attorney who successfully argued for the legalization of aid in dying, and to Scranton, Pennsylvania, to listen to "pro-life" groups who believe the removal of feeding tubes from some patients is tantamount to murder. Above all, she listened to the stories of those who were close to death.

What Neumann found is that death in contemporary America is much more complicated than we think. Medical technologies and increased life expectancies have changed the very definition of medical death. And although death is our common fate, it is also a divisive issue that we all experience differently. What constitutes a good death is unique to each of us, depending on our age, race, economic status, culture, and beliefs. What's more, differing concepts of choice, autonomy, and consent make death a contested landscape, governed by social, medical, legal, and religious systems.

In these words, Neumann brings us intimate portraits of the nurses, patients, bishops, bioethicists, and activists who are shaping the way we die. The Good Death presents a fearless examination of how we approach death and how those of us close to dying loved ones live in death's wake.

©2016 Ann Neumann (P)2016 Audible, Inc.

great book

a must-read for anyone interested in or actively participating in the death positive movement. beautifully written and wonderfully read. informative.

Fascinating and Insightful

I really enjoyed this book. I lost my mother to pancreatic cancer when she was 54. This book is a must read — considering your own death, and really makes you consider what “a good death” means to you.

Informative but has some issues

3 stars - I liked it

In The Good Death, journalist and hospice volunteer Ann Neumann examines what it means to die in the United States. She discusses end-of-life care, right to die, medical ethics, starvation deaths, and other aspects of what it could mean to die in America.

This book was very interesting because it looks at how your wishes for death may not always happen, even if you have the paperwork to prove that is your wish. I found the discussions of how hospitals can easily ignore your wishes, especially if you end up brain dead or on incubators to live. Even if your legal guardian shows proof that you want the plug pulled, organizations and even the hospitals will use whatever means they can to prevent it, like in the Terri Schiavo case.

I learned a lot from this book about right-to-die legislation, starvation deaths, and other legal aspects of dying. It really shows me that I need to start on a will and death care paperwork as soon as possible because you never know when an accident might happen. I do have a few issues with some of the discussions in this book. This book doesn’t really go into statistics or experiences of the BIPOC since all her in depth discussions are about cases involving white people.

Another issue was that she discussed a confrontation she had with a disabled blogger who was against her views because he was concerned about his personal safety when it came to right-to-die legislation. They do meet and form a friendship, but her tone and discussion of this man, and other disabled people, was very ablest and at times very negative. She never seemed to understand the blogger's concern about her views, which was disappointing considering she became friends with him.

My last issue with this book was in Chapter 8, she discussed meeting an inmate through hospice and that he sent her a letter about his experiences and life since their meeting. He asks her to reply but she wouldn't respond to him. I understand that a nurse told her that inmates wouldn’t be able to get letters but she never confirms that with the actual rules of the prison. She then goes on to discuss the compassion needed for dealing with end-of-life patients but still refuses to try to write to the one prisoner who was reaching out to her. It was very jarring to see her preach about compassion but ignore someone who was reaching out for it.

Overall, this was an interesting book but it does have its flaws. I learned a lot about end-of-life care and legislation but this is only a tiny portion of what the health care system is like. I would really love to see a follow up book, or another author, write about BIPOC experiences and disabled experiences. If this book is already written, please let me know because I would love to read it.

Good inffo. struggled with narration

So I bought the book. good for reference anyway. and print us easier for reference

Should Be Titled "Busted Social Systems"

This book was okay. I think it is somewhat mistitled, as it ranges more widely than just death. It's also about the well-intentioned nightmare of the medical system, the horrors of the prison system, and the controversies over disability.

A Learning Experience

This story opened up my eyes to dying. I don't have to worry about anyone fighting for my life. I know there's no guarantee I won't end up at a Catholic hospital. But, it's amazing how people play God. What's the sense in writing out what you want or how your should end without people staying in their own lane? This is a good read or audible. I learned a lot about death and hospice.

Wonderful Book!

This is such an excellent book. It is easy to listen to and extremely eye opening.

Interesting discussion on end-of life issues

I loved the narration and pacing. I often feel nonfiction books are better for reading than listening, but it was easy to follow this one as an audiobook. I have read a few other books about death and dying in US society and found this one to be a valuable addition. We will all have to face this multiple times in our lives with family and friends, and ultimately ourselves. I found the clear-eyed discussion of hospice care particularly interesting, and enjoyed the chapters on disability rights advocates as well. Highly recommend!

A sensitive, informative important work.

Without having read other books on the subject I am glad that this is the first. Getting to an age where this is inevitable with people I've come to care about and miraculously having escaped that for the better part of my life, I can think of no better way to cultivate awareness on this ever so important subject. The few people I've I know who have died are still so present in my mind and heart. When you're from another country, and people die, if you don't get to travel to their funeral, it oddly feels like they've never passed but that you'll just go back and see them again when you travel back there. It's an odd feeling because logic dictates that you know the truth and what's happened. People can still however remain very alive in your mind. This book is a very helpful preparation for the inevitable that I will face and I've come to face recently given a certain circumstance. Ms. Newman takes so many factors into account that are important to consider on this subject. For me she had made learning or experiencing more about this subject more accessible and contextualized. For that, I thank her. Reading/listening to this book felt like time very well spent.

Loved discussion about Not Dead Yet organization

An interesting, wide-ranging discussion of death. Sometimes the author gets a bit far afield, but good nonetheless.