That Good Night

Life and Medicine in the Eleventh Hour

By: Sunita Puri

Narrated by: Soneela Nankani, Sunita Puri

“A profound exploration of what it means for all of us to live - and to die - with dignity and purpose.” (People)

“Visceral and lyrical.” (The Atlantic)

As the American-born daughter of immigrants, Dr. Sunita Puri knew from a young age that the gulf between her parents' experiences and her own was impossible to bridge, save for two elements: medicine and spirituality. Between days spent waiting for her mother, an anesthesiologist, to exit the OR, and evenings spent in conversation with her parents about their faith, Puri witnessed the tension between medicine's impulse to preserve life at all costs and a spiritual embrace of life's temporality. And it was that tension that eventually drew Puri, a passionate but unsatisfied medical student, to palliative medicine - a new specialty attempting to translate the border between medical intervention and quality-of-life care.

Interweaving evocative stories of Puri's family and the patients she cares for, That Good Night is a stunning meditation on impermanence and the role of medicine in helping us to live and die well, arming listeners with information that will transform how we communicate with our doctors about what matters most to us.

©2019 Sunita Puri (P)2019 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"Visceral and lyrical.... In a high-tech world, [Puri’s] specialty is not cures, but questions - about pain, about fraught prospects, about what ‘miracle’ might really mean. Her tool is language, verbal and physical. Wielding carefully measured words, can she guide but not presume to dictate? Heeding the body’s signals, not just beeping monitors, can she distinguish between a fixable malady and impending death? Puri the doctor knows that masterful control isn’t the point. For Puri the writer, her prose proves that it is.” (The Atlantic)

“A beautiful, lyrical narrative that provides great insight on living more fully.” (Forbes)

"The most powerful tools in her practice of palliative care are not scalpels or syringes: They are words. In a book full of both sadness and enlightenment, Puri's compassion and honesty shine." (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

I liked and wanted more

This was a wonderful collection of stories of the lives and deaths of some of her patients, and tells the timeline of her experience transitioning into paliative care. It is all well done, even to the aound and cadence of the authors voice. I would have preferred to have more didactic teaching about the HOW to have conversations with dying patients and their families. The WHYs were clear throughout the book. In the last chapter, she recalls her grand round lecture and mentions "pitfalls to avoid" when having said conversations, but does not identify them. That is what I wished the book extolled more- the nuts and bolts of how, what strategies to undertake and which to avoid, when talking with patients. The book is a solid A, but I believe more technical descriptions of the HOW would have made it an A+.

LOVED IT ! !

Great job. I could understand from both sides. Thank you for writing this book, as it is so needed still.

An evolution into medicine.

Dr. Puri's personal account of education and experience with palliative care. It's heartwarming and recommended.

A great book!

This is such an important field. I never knew what palliative care was until my mother was dying. We didn't have a plan in place and the women from the palliative team were so compassionate and understanding. It takes a special person to do this work.

Everyone who will ever die or lose a loved one should read this!

Ms. Puri masterfully tells the story of her career in palliative care. This should be required reading. The book offers important insights in end of life care and decision making. One of the best medical memoirs I’ve ever read.

Life changing

I loved this book. I mean I’m not a huge fan of memoirs because they can come across as boastful. But this one was just well-rounded and thought provoking. Dr. Puri explains death in such a way that you don’t cringe at the mention of it, instead you slowly come to start changing the way your mind views death. I read this for a book club that I belong to and this is one of the books that I will list as having influenced my life.

Thank you, Dr. Puri for writing this!!

Enjoyed it very much!

What a lovely autobiography! I learned so much about Palliative care and what a difference it makes at the end of life. I hope more physicians will understand that it doesn’t mean they have failed but that it can be the helpful treatment in that last chapter of life, no matter how short or long that chapter is. The author is a wonderful physician! I hope she can influence others to be as helpful to their patients. Well written and well read.

A must read

This is not an easy listen but one that everyone should. Intelligent and thought provoking I’m pleased to have listened. Thank you Sunita Puri.

I loved her passionate care for others

Excellent book!! My husband and I, both retired Medical ins agent and him an RT at a large hospital in MN were intrigued by her struggles as palliative came on the scene. He was there too! What thoughtful compassion she has!! My RT husband said they were vital to care for the sick. Dr Sunita seems part doctor and psychiatrist and pastor. Then we remembered the passing of 3 of our parents since 2019. Losing one each year to 2021! We have our POLST done and ready!! We had our talk with our kids what we want should we not be able to speak for ourselves. The book brought all these to mind. I hope she got married and has a daughter just like her and her mother!!

Beautifully written

Poignant journey from childhood into a meaningful career in palliative care. A beautiful memoir of how this amazing work taps us to be honored to do it. Skilled, gifted writer.