By Lawrence Abrams

In the End, Will You or Your Hospital Have Control Over Your Life?

A deeply moving personal memoir—much of it in riveting real time, The Grievance: A Real Life-and-Death Story is a husband’s cautionary tale of the whirlwind of circumstances, decisions and emotions surrounding the death of his vibrant wife whom he knew and loved for more than 50 years. Just 40 days earlier, she was playing tennis and bridge and doing yoga—then she was gone. She had a living will that specifically stated what medical procedures were not acceptable and it was handed to staff upon arrival at “The Hospital,” one of the best teaching hospitals in New York City, where it languished in a loose-leaf binder. Like Atul Gawande’s New York Times bestseller Being Mortal and The Institute of Medicine’s report Dying in America, readers will want to add The Grievance to the growing national conversation on end-of-life issues in America. Its intense personal perspective will engage and empower the average person in this very real life-and-death struggle. The experience has turned the author into a vocal advocate for patient choice and quality of life for the dying.