The Inevitable

Starred review from February 1, 2021

Journalist Engelhart, rather than rehashing the arguments for and against assisted suicide (preferably known now as Medical Aid in Dying or Physician Assisted Death), presents the current state of the debate in the stories of six people: a California doctor who specializes in assisted death; a woman in England who buys Nembutal from Mexican veterinary supply stores; a young woman in New Mexico with multiple sclerosis who travels to a euthanasia clinic in Switzerland then changes her mind; a woman with dementia in Oregon; a young Canadian man with severe mental illness; and Dr. Philip Nitschke, the founder of Exit International, an organization that teaches people how to take their own lives. Engelhart does not take sides, but allows the individuals profiled to present their own stories. This fast-paced medical history also includes accounts of figures such as Dr. Jack Kevorkian, who campaigned for the legalization of assisted death and was arrested and tried for his role in the death of a patient. Nine states and the District of Columbia now have some sort of assisted dying statues, but the laws vary widely and there are many restrictions. VERDICT A must-read for anyone concerned about quality of life at the end of life.--Rachel Owens, Daytona State Coll. Lib., FL

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 1, 2021
A survey of the history and current state of affairs of the right-to-die movement. When the laws fall short or are subject to powerful economically or ideologically vested interests, people have always found a way to end the suffering of their lives. Working from the concept of a peaceful death being a basic human right, physician-assisted, rational suicide has usually been available, covertly if necessary. In this searching, compassionate narrative, journalist Engelhart explores "the push to wrest bodily control, at the end of natural life, from the behemoth powers of Big Medicine and the state," an effort that "has been defined by individual stories"--in this case, doctors and individuals and their immediate, personal encounters with the administration of life-ending drugs and the paths that led them to that point. As the author recounts, the reasons for this increasingly public debate involve concepts of autonomy and the even more practical desire to avoid suffering and indignity. For many of the author's interviewees, "planning death was often about avoiding indignity, something they imagined would be humiliating, degrading, futile, constraining, selfish, ugly, physically immodest, financially ruinous, burdensome, unreasonable, or untrue." The author also examines instances in which patients were "treated and treated and overtreated," which often prolonged agony and drained resources, whether individual or societal, and she digs into the even more complicated issues involved with patients suffering from dementia or other forms of mental illness. Evenhandedly and without undue criticism, Engelhart brings forth the counterarguments--e.g., the slippery path to eugenics and social Darwinism or that "maybe rational suicide was just a symptom of social and financial neglect, dressed up as a moral choice"--but she offers enough convincing evidence about the efficacy and ethical standing of the right-to-die movement that many readers will be persuaded of its value to society. A meticulous and frank collection of end-of-life stories, conversations, and ideas.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2021
"Betty" makes a pact with her two best friends that the first one to get Alzheimer's gets a foolproof, painless, lethal dose of a fast-acting barbiturate. She lives in New York, where physician-assisted death is not legal. In this collection of haunting stories, former Vice News journalist Engelhart looks at how sick and elderly Americans are plotting their final hours. It can be disturbing, learning about the many ways people take their own lives. Engelhart flicks through past cases and regulations, including the 1997 Oregon Death with Dignity Act that allowed assisted suicide, but only for state residents who were terminally ill with less than six months to live. (In 1990, Dr. Jack Kevorkian helped an Oregon woman take her life in his Volkswagen van.) Right-to-die advocates argue for a veterinary solution: Why can't we die like a euthanized dog? Through exhaustive reporting, Engelhart unflinchingly captures unsettling exit scenes that force readers to think about whether people must fulfill a "duty to live" or whether they should be able to choose what they consider to be "dignity in dying."

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.