Coupland adopts…an Andy Warholish mode, somewhere between mocking, lamenting, celebrating even the most troubling aspects of postmodernity.

[Coupland’s] new collection has its basis in that rarefied literary form, the art catalogue … [he] is at his best when he muses on new opportunities and challenges presented by technology.

[T]he Vancouver-based tech-seer, critic, author and artist again proves himself to be one of the most entertaining and thoughtful futurologists on the planet.

Bit Rot is wry and wise, terrifying and hilarious, and it makes us LOL while still using “LOL” correctly.

Every page is full of wit, surprise and delight

Powerful and poignant… Elegantly written posthumous memoir… Should be compulsory for anyone who intends to be a doctor… A profound reflection on the meaning of life.

A stark, fascinating, well-written and heroic memoir.

The power of this book lies in its eloquent insistence that we are all confronting our mortality every day, whether we know it or not. The real question we face, Kalanithi writes, is not how long, but rather how, we will live – and the answer does not appear in any medical textbook.

Exceptional.

When I came to the end of the last flawless paragraph of When Breath Becomes Air, all I could do was turn to the first page and read the whole thing again. Searingly intelligent, beautifully written, and beyond brave, I haven't been so marked by a book in years.

A remarkable book… Kalanithi writes very well, in a plain and matter-of-fact way, without a trace of self-pity, and you are immediately gripped and carried along… [He] was clearly a deeply thoughtful and compassionate man, and his death is a great loss to medicine, but at least he has left this remarkable book behind.

A meditation on what makes a life worth living.

It turns out not really to be about dying at all but about life and how to live it — though the closeness of death gives it an urgency and economy… When Breath Becomes Air is a Renaissance book from a Renaissance man. It is a work of philosophy and morality, a reconciliation of science and religion. There is even plot and excitement… It was only with the restrained, elegant epilogue written by his wife Lucy Kalanithi that I found myself weeping helplessly… When Breath Becomes Air tells us what means to live a good life, by giving us a glimpse into an exceptional one.

A powerful and compelling read.

An astonishingly affecting memoir and eloquent examination of what it is to be human and confront your own mortality… This is a remarkable book by a man who was driven by his passion for his life, his loves and his career. His death is undoubtedly a tragedy but in writing this memoir he has guaranteed that his voice and the important story it tells will resonate for years to come.

As thought-provoking as it was moving. The sheer exuberance of Kalnithi’s intellectual curiosity shone through in his writing.

To the venerable canon of doctors who could write (from Chekhov to Oliver Sacks and Atul Gawande), another name can be added: that of Paul Kalanithi… Brilliantly written.

Paul Kalanithi’s memoir, When Breath Becomes Air… split my head open with its beauty. Truly. Madly. Deeply.

Thanks to When Breath Becomes Air, those of us who never met Paul Kalanithi will both mourn his death and benefit from his life. This one of a handful of books I consider to be a universal donor - I would recommend it to anyone, everyone.

A remarkable book about what it means to live…a tour de force…The book will be compared inevitably to Sacks’ work and also to the iconic book that Joan Didion wrote about grief, The Year of Magical Thinking. And like that book, it’s destined to become an elegiac classic on the subject of mortality. But it’s a different feeling from Didion’s gorgeous, melancholy fog of war. When Breath Becomes Air is electrically alive in its anticipation of death.

It is [his wife] Lucy who completes the book with an honesty and elegance that echoes his own… This book goes a long way to achieving what Kalanithi wanted to achieve – helping people understand death and face their mortality. He emerges as a fine man who faced his own with fortitude and integrity.

Eloquent, elegant, heartbreaking memoir… As [Kalanithi] courageously faces his death, he takes care to celebrate love and hope in this sorrowful but ultimately life-affirming book.

It's a story so remarkable, so stunning, and so affecting that I had to take dozens of breaks just to compose myself enough to get through it…Although you know how this one ends, you still can't believe it. That's because the author -- a nonsmoker whose cancer was the result of a genetic mutation -- is so likeable, so relatable, and so humble, that you become immersed in his world and forget where it's all heading. It occurs to me, as I close this book again (but not for the final time), that when I'm next on rounds in the hospital, I will have something devastating and spectacular to recommend.

[A]n emotional investment well work making: a moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature…His words are bracing for their honesty. He also writes beautifully about the philosophical aspect of medicine, neurosurgery in particular.

Devastating account of the shift from doctor to patient.

A deeply thoughtful and beautifully written book on the question of what makes life worth living.

Kalanithi was a brilliant writer with a profound mind… The medical stories are endlessly gripping… But the book’s true beauty emerges when Kalanithi’s illness turns him from doctor to patient, facing death “eye to eye” with profound integrity and sometimes humour.

[Paul Kalanithi’s] chapters are about the triumph of the mind, of ambition, of determination over cancer in the final months of life; [Lucy Kalanithi’s] are about the triumph of the heart.

[It] tops my longlist of books I’d like for Christmas.

Through reading this book I have looked the bogeyman death in the face. Maybe it was the briefest of glances, and I want to play a little before I look again, but I feel richer for it. It is a sombre richness and there is sadness in it, but I am grateful. Grateful for this book and to its valiant author.

His exquisitely written, inspiring memoir is inevitably unfinished, but delivers the final word on dying with dignity.

Wrenching memoir…Moving, humble and impossible to ignore.

An unforgettable reflection on the practice of medicine and the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

An honest and eye-opening memoir.

Deeply moving memoir… Lessons on life and how to cherish it.

Immensely powerful and poignant.

The best book I’ve read this year.

Heart-breaking memoir.

The effect of reading such clear-sighted and intelligent commentary on life and death is exhilarating… Astonishing and invigorating book... Rarely have words on both life and death made such an impact.

A brilliant memoir.

A sad but beautiful story… A remarkable book… A moving and thoughtful memoir of family, medicine and literature.

Profoundly moving book… A life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

[Kalanithi] wrote about practising medicine, about mortality, about finite time, with unfathomable tranquility and humour.

He writes with clarity, elegance, and honesty… When Breath Becomes Air is a deeply personal and moving book… Kalanithi died leaving the book unfinished. He left, though, his voice, speaking through this book about death and implicitly about life.

Writing isn't brain surgery, but it's rare when someone adept at the latter is also so accomplished at the former... A moving meditation on mortality by a gifted writer whose dual perspectives of physician and patient provide a singular clarity.

An extraordinary voice… His account is matter-of-fact, never self-pitying and often funny.

Wrenching memoir… Moving, humble, and impossible to ignore.

A sparely lyrical account of excruciated ambition… Fairly dotted with insights.

In this slim but extraordinarily powerful memoir, Kalanithi grapples with the hardest questions with grace and courage... Lucid, humbling and heartbreaking.

Heart-wrenching memoir

When Breath Becomes Air is an eloquent evocation of a life defined by success and tragedy… Paul’s unravelling of unimaginable circumstances is terrifyingly real and heartbreakingly honest.

The line between life and death has never been explored quite so personally as in Paul Kalanithi’s wrenching memoir… The Final pages, from Paul and then Lucy, are moving, humble, and impossible to ignore’

It’s elegantly constructed, as befits a man who had a lifelong passion for reading and writing, and heartbreakingly honest too, with unflinching reflections on all the beloved people he must leave behind, and all the things left undone’

Absolutely compelling… This is not a depressing book, but it will stay with you for a long time.

A true and heart-breaking tale.

This dying doctor’s gripping memoir is a natural, honest, and unflinching account of his journey. Paul’s willingness to reflect and share and not avert his eyes from death, will undoubtedly inspire and comfort others who are ill or who experience loss. The final paragraph is directed towards his infant daughter and it is breathtakingly beautiful… one to recommend to anyone and everyone.

Beautifully written… Healthcare professionals and civilians alike should find much that resonates here.

His book is suitable for, and deserves, a wide audience… Whilst this book is emotional and moving to read, it is beautifully written and many readers will find Paul's way of dealing with terminal illness inspirational. It is a book that I will go back to again and again for emotional support.

This is a tearjerker… Kalanithi was as skilled with words as he was with the knife.

Kalanithi is warm and full of wit... His writing is seamless, poetic, beautiful and transfixing. His bravery is rather astonishing at times… He is a wonderful storyteller and dizzily sweeps you along.

You’ll read this in one unforgettable afternoon.

A gripping and emotionally charged account.

Poignant, honest, brave and yes, at times, incredibly raw… A beautiful and unforgettable book.

[A] beautiful memoir… Kalanithi’s eloquent and elegant writing is deeply affecting.

[An] inspiring book.

A thoughtful, deep and learned meditation on the meaning of life… The best book of the year

An emotional ride.

A book that leaves its reader full-hearted… moved and enriched by its humanity and accomplishment.

A fast read that won’t fail to move you.

John Updike said that every writer is simply unpacking their own bag, describing writing as a way to come to terms with one’s current and historical life experience. If that is the case Paul Kalanithi, in When Breath Becomes Air, is unpacking a very large bag indeed, and not just his own.

When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

Far more than a beautifully written account of a life cut cruelly short: it is a meditation on living well.

[H]e writes with an eloquence that befits his love of the literary.

An eloquent meditation on our mortality, the brain, the meaning of life, fatherhood and the doctor-patient relationship, this powerful, inspirational book should appeal to readers who are enjoying watching BBC2’s current Hospital series. I couldn’t put this profoundly moving memoir down – but it is not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, and may scare hypochondriacs.

It’s not just that Kalanathi has a remarkable story to tell. The way he tells it is phenomenal… This is a superbly written and must-read autobiography – beautiful, poignant and thought-provoking.

He writes movingly about how to make sense of a life so suddenly interrupted and what makes life worth living even as it fades away. A beautiful book about the resilience of the human spirit.

Kalanithi’s candid yet artistic prose, peppered with medical terminology, conveys his life beautifully. We are taken on a journey from the nostalgic memories of his childhood in Arizona to his final days in the hospital bed… he raw and emotional portrayal of his pain and their family’s grief is not an easy read, but a compelling one.

A thoroughly enjoyable, epic read, When Breath Becomes Air should be at the top of everyone’s ‘to read’ list. Paul Kalanithi beautifully bridges the gaps between philosophy, science and literature in his memoir which depicts the reality of life lived in the face of death… Kalanithi writes sublimely, elegantly and honestly. His words are spun together as though with a golden thread, and all that he writes is from the heart. His admiration for the written word shines through and the mammoth task of composing his memoir, after receiving his diagnosis, is executed exquisitely… It is a novel filled with tenderness, heartbreak and bittersweet nostalgia. It is a novel containing power, strength and beauty. And it is a novel that will stay with you long after its cover has been closed.

Informative, emotive, honest and a stark look at the path one takes when life pulls the rug out from under you.

This book has stayed with me ever since I put it down. Absolutely extraordinary. This book is an example of how fragile and unfair life can be.

It was a really incredible read and I couldn’t recommend it more.

As a book detailing the insight into our own mortality, and the dedication of medical professionals who place their lives on hold to learn their craft, it’s fascinating. His accounts of coming face to face with cadavers – "donors" – and performing autopsies, his experiences with patients as he gave good and bad news, his mistakes as a surgeon which caused irreparable damage coupled with his success as a physician are an incredible insight into his life’s work… A melancholic read that I’d recommend to all student nurses, and anyone interested in reading the final thoughts of a doomed surgeon.

Poignant and life-affirming, it's a devastating must-read

Beautifully written... utterly heartbreaking and yet somehow life-affirming

The writing is beautiful and the whole book feels like a wondrous gift