Death and dying in human experience

Kubler-Ross, Elisabeth. On Death and Dying. Scribner, 1997. A seminal work on the subject of death and dying, Kubler-Ross's book was initially published in the 1960s and remains relevant. On Death and Dying is a commentary on the views toward death and dying held by our culture and therefore illustrates the underlying moral and ideological principles that have guided public policy in the area of right-to-die ethics. Moreover, Kubler-Ross emphasizes the experience of dying from the patient's perspective, garnering information from case studies and interviews. Although offered primarily as a text to assist hospice, health care workers, friends, and family members in dealing with the difficulties of death and dying, Kubler-Ross's book is instrumental in painting a thorough picture of why our current laws exist and how they might be changed in the future. At the heart of On Death and Dying is the assertion that our culture does in fact deal with death in destructive ways and the book can therefore serve as a guide for advising public policy shifts.

2. Callanan, Maggie; Kelley, Patricia. Final Gifts. Bantam, 1997. Written by two hospice workers, Final Gifts offers a constructive, ironically life-affirming perspective on death and dying. The authors, who coined the phrase "Nearing Death Awareness," focus on the potential of the dying process. From their experiences working with individuals with terminal illnesses and those who love them, Callanan and Kelley noticed that profound spiritual wisdom and meaningful experiences of enlightenment can accompany the dying process. Through systematic and fearless encouragement of creative communication, the dying can learn to communicate their fears and their dread, in order to alleviate their own pain and that of their loved ones. Final Gifts offers a positive perspective that can help eliminate deeply-rooted social taboos of death and help therefore to create more humane public policies regarding right-to-die.

3. Moody, Raymond. Life After Life. 2nd Edition. San Francisco: Harper, 2001. Raymond Moody's book is a classic in its field. Based on over a hundred case studies, Life After Life offers anecdotal evidence for the possible existence of some kind of life after death. The book is valuable in the argument in favor of changing public policy in favor of a more humane view toward the right-to-die because it may help alter somewhat the norms and taboos in our culture regarding death and dying.

4. Nuland, Sherwin B. How We Die. Vintage, 1995. The author takes a decisively pro-right-to-die stance based on personal experience and objective analysis on a variety of common terminal diseases, Nuland shows that human beings must inevitably face their own death fearlessly and courageously. His book offers assistance to those who fear death, and Nuland demonstrates that all human beings deserve the right to die peacefully. How We Die urges those in the medical profession to become more aware of the relevance of assisted suicide in providing a compassionate, peaceful death.

5. Kessler, David. The Rights of the Dying. Perennial, 1998. Kessler presents a set of seventeen clear-cut ethical "rights" of all living persons, who should ideally be able to participate in one of the most important parts of their lives: their death. Included among these rights are the right to die itself: the central issue in the reformation of public policy. Kessler's book can provide an overall ethical framework from which to deal with the thorny issue of death and dying.

6. Byock, Ira. Dying Well. Riverhead, 1998. Another series of compelling case studies regarding the need for individuals in our society to better confront the issues of dying and death, Byock's Dying Well shows that death is not only an integral part of life but one that should not be feared so fully as to impact public policy against compassionate right-to-die legislation. The stories contained in The Rights of the Dying can help voters make informed decisions regarding their own right to die as well as the rights of their loved ones.

7. Urofsky, Melvin I. Letting Go: Death, Dying and the Law. University of Oklahoma Press, 1994. Unlike many of the other books in this annotated bibliography, Urofsky's Letting Go offers a legalistic perspective on the right-to-die. Showing how the law can at once support a patient's right to die and at the same time offer a sound, balanced, moral framework for a modern society, Urofsky's book is instrumental in guiding shifts in social norms, awareness, and public policy. Letting Go demonstrates that the right-to-die need not interfere with religiosity in American society.

8. Eadie, Betty J. Embraced by the Light. Bantam, 1994. Another classic in its field, Eadie's Embraced by the Light is an esoteric, new age view on death and dying. Focusing on the potential of the near-death experience, Eadie's book is nevertheless Christian in perspective and can therefore be used to illustrate to the American public that although death can be frightening to think about, that death and dying themselves need not be perceived as so negative as to mould public policy toward admonition against the right to die.