This book is the memoir of a brilliant young man whose life and career were cut short by cancer. The author, neurosurgeon Paul Karanithi, initially studied literature in the hopes of coming to understand more about the nature of life, but discovered that he found more of the answers he sought through concurrent explorations and/or study of the human brain. As the narrative explores the before, during, and after of his diagnosis with lung cancer, it also explores themes examining the relationship between the mind and the brain, the power of ambition, and the nature of hope.
