Undiscovered Country

“Informed by some of the leading travel writers of our time, David Casarett, a palliative care physician, is a superb travel guide, full of helpful information and concern for the dying. Viewing death as a journey, he’s eager to make passage as comfortable and informed as possible. No one knows when they’ll reach the final frontier, but Undiscovered Country makes getting there less scary and more comprehensible, and even fascinating.” —Michael Shapiro, author, A Sense of Place “As a palliative care physician with decades of experience, Dr. Casarett is in a perfect position to provide the right balance of understanding about the dying process, combined with an appreciation for the unknown to assist the reader in turning the ominous threat of death into a life event that we cannot just understand, but from which we can benefit and grow. Informative and comforting work!” —Eben Alexander, MD, former Harvard neurosurgeon and author of Proof of Heaven, The Map of Heaven, and Living in a Mindful Universe “Turning the pages of Undiscovered Country is an adventure akin to traveling through a foreign land with an experienced, confident guide. We are at turns surprised, unnerved, fascinated, and awed. The journey leaves us feeling richer and more alive.” —Ira Byock, MD, author of Dying Well and The Four Things That Matter Most “We are all on our way to this undiscovered country, and there are no detailed maps. All we can hope for are a few signs along the way. David Casarett has walked beside a lot of travelers, and he’s given us several excellent guideposts in this book.” —Sallie Tisdale, author of Advice for Future Corpses

Dr. David Casarett is a physician, researcher, and tenured Professor at the Duke University School of Medicine. Casarett is the chief of Palliative Care for Duke, where he directs the Duke Center for Palliative Care. He is the author of more than 100 articles in journals including JAMA and The New England Journal of Medicine, and his writing has appeared in print and online in Salon, Esquire, Discover, and Wired. He is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor given by the US government to researchers in the early stages of their careers.

Dr. Casarett is also the author of three non-fiction books, Last Acts (Simon & Schuster), Shocked: Adventures in Bringing Back the Recently Dead, and Stoned: A Doctor’s Case for Medical Marijuana (both Penguin Random House). He’s also written two well-reviewed novels in the Ethical Chiang Mai Detective Agency series, Murder in the House of Rooster Happiness, and The Missing Guests of the Magic Grove Hotel (Hachette).