David Jarrett (2)

An informative and often brutally blunt consideration of the harmful and unnecessary medical over-treatment of the elderly. While I take Jarrett’s points and understand the reasons why he advocates for frank conversations about end-of-life care before we lose our cognitive faculties, I sometimes found him to be harsh, even callous, about the elderly.

Their decline, he says again and again, places heavy—too heavy—demands on family and society. He makes it clear, for example, that the show more young should not be expected to have a role in the care of their grandparents. They should be out having fun, drinking, having sex and so on.

There were moments when I paused and wondered why he’d become a physician at all, particularly a geriatrician. I hope never to have to deal with someone like him.

Jarrett’s style is lively, with a fair bit of black humour. While his book raises important issues, it is not for the faint of heart. An ounce or two of compassion would have gone a long ways. Forty years as a geriatrician no doubt takes its toll, but Jarrett states he was never an optimist to begin with and that he’s pretty uncomfortable with emotions. What can I say? It shows. show less

To be read with care. Some people, in certain circumstances, may find parts of this book difficult to process.

"Dr David Jarrett, a gerontologist with forty years of professional experience with people at the end of their lives, has recently published a compelling and illuminating book, which contemplates the realities of growing old in the modern age and explores what a good death should look like and what we'd want for ourselves. There have been some excellent reviews - The Independent show more described it as, 'A remarkably likeable guide to a grisly subject ... daunting, yet ultimately life-affirming.'"
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"Dr David Jarrett, a gerontologist with forty years of professional experience with people at the end of their lives, has recently published a compelling and illuminating book, which contemplates the realities of growing old in the modern age and explores what a good death should look like and what we'd want for ourselves. There have been some excellent reviews - The Independent described it as, 'A remarkably likeable guide to a grisly subject ... daunting, yet ultimately life-affirming.'"