Lost Art of Dying : Reviving Forgotten Wisdom

A Columbia University physician comes across a popular medieval text on dying well written after the horror of the Black Plague and discovers ancient wisdom for rethinking death and dying, gaining insight today on how we can learn the lost art of dying well in this wise, clear-eyed book that is as compelling and soulful as Being Mortal, When Breath Becomes Air, and Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.

As a specialist in both medical ethics and the treatment of older patients, Dr. L. S. Dugdale knows a great deal about the end of life and the complexities of modern end-of-life care. Far too many of us die poorly, she argues. Our culture has overly medicalized death: dying is often institutional and sterile, prolonged by unnecessary resuscitations and other intrusive interventions. We are not going gently into that good night―our reliance on modern medicine can actually prolong suffering and strip us of our dignity. Yet our lives do not have to end this way.

Centuries ago, in the wake of the Black Plague, a text was published offering advice to help the living prepare for a good death. Written during the late Middle Ages, ars moriendi―The Art of Dying―made clear that to die well, one first had to live well and described what practices, as part of end-of-life planning, best help us prepare. When Dugdale discovered this Medieval book, it was a revelation. Inspired by its holistic approach to the final stage we must all one day face, she draws from this forgotten work, combining its wisdom with the knowledge she has gleaned from her long medical career. The Lost Art of Dying is a twenty-first century ars moriendi, filled with much-needed insight and thoughtful guidance that will change our perceptions. By recovering our sense of finitude, confronting our fears, accepting how our bodies age, developing meaningful rituals, and involving our communities in end-of-life care and spiritual care, we can discover what it means to both live and die well. And like the original ars moriendi, The Lost Art of Dying includes nine black-and-white drawings from artist Michael W. Dugger.

Dr. Dugdale offers a hopeful perspective on death and dying as she shows us how to adapt the wisdom from the past to our lives today. The Lost Art of Dying is a vital, affecting book that reconsiders death, death culture, and how we can transform how we practice living well each day, including our last. 

Drawing on centuries of wisdom and modern medical experience, this book provides a compassionate roadmap for navigating the end of life:

• Ancient Wisdom for a Modern Death: Learn what the medieval ars moriendi teaches us about preparing for the end―and how its lessons on living a full life are more relevant than ever.
• Medical Ethics in Practice: Gain insight from Dr. Dugdale’s patient stories that reveal the challenges of our medicalized death culture and the difficult choices families face.
• Palliative Care and Comfort: Understand the difference between prolonging suffering and providing meaningful comfort, with guidance on how to advocate for dignity in end-of-life care.
• Grief and Bereavement: Explore how developing meaningful rituals and involving community can help not only the dying but also provide a framework for those left behind.
• A Framework for Living: Discover how confronting our finitude, accepting our aging bodies, and facing our fears can transform how we live each day.

Lydia Dugdale MD, MAR, is associate professor of medicine and director of the Center for Clinical Medical Ethics at Columbia University. Prior to her 2019 move to Columbia, she was Associate Director of the Program for Biomedical Ethics and founding Co-Director of the Program for Medicine, Spirituality, and Religion at Yale School of Medicine. She is an internal medicine primary care doctor and medical ethicist. Her first book, Dying in the Twenty-First Century (MIT Press, 2015), provides the theoretical grounding for this current book. She lives with her husband and daughters in New York City.