Summary

Part Four, a collection of Anatole Broyard’s journal notes, opens with the assertion that being ill and dying is “largely, to a degree, a matter of style” (60). Broyard wants to show people that one does not merely have to be brave or stoical in the face of death but can turn their situation into an art, even a career. He asserts that the ill can decide whether their experience will be positive or negative and encourages them, above all, to find their own voice.

Broyard believes that one of the most damaging things a patient can do is present a false self to their doctor; though it may be tempting to assume a nice and accommodating persona, it will ultimately be damaging to the relationship. The main thing that the ill fear is not dying but the diminishment of...