Mastics-Moriches-Shirley Community Library Reader Advisory Blog: Promoting Peace Through Literary Nonfiction: Dayton Prize Nominees

Yesterday, this blog reported on the fiction finalists for the 2011 Dayton Literary Peace Prize, which celebrates the power of literature to promote peace. Here are the nominated non-fictional titles available from your Community Library:

Crossing Mandelbaum Gate: Coming of Age Between the Arabs and Israelis, 1956-1978 by Kai Bird
Little Princes: One Man's Promise to Bring Home the Lost Children of Nepal by Conor Grennan
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
In the Place of Justice: A Story of Punishment and Deliverance by Wilbert Rideau
The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson

Winners will be announced on November 13th at a special ceremony in Dayton, Ohio.

Being Mortal by Atul Gawande

Genre: Adult Non-Fiction
Rating: 5 out of 5

"Being Mortal is about the limitations of what modern medicine can provide for people as their lives draw to a close. Gawande argues that the objective of medicine should not merely be treatment and survival; medical care should also ensure dignity in death and having control over one's final moments. He argues that instead of aggressively fighting the inescapable realities of aging, we should ask the hard questions of ourselves and our loved ones -- What makes life worth living? When should we try to extend our lives, and when should we choose a better quality of our remaining days over extending their quantity?

This book is difficult to read. Not because of the way Gawande writes -- his style is highly engaging, and he never lapses into excessively scientific jargon or overly simplistic explanations -- but because of the tough subject matter. Gawande draws on his own experiences as a doctor and peppers his book with honest and humane stories of his patients, friends, and family; the stories he tells make the book more accessible, and also more heartbreaking. (And that's not a bad thing.)

No one likes to think about their loved ones', or their own, impending mortality. But it's important to have these hard conversations, because as Gawande says, "endings matter." - Amanda

Promoting Peace Through Literary Nonfiction: Dayton Prize Nominees

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