The End of Your Life Book Club

A Memoir

By: Will Schwalbe

Narrated by: Jeff Harding

Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins

Publisher's summary

"What are you reading?"

That's the question Will Schwalbe asks his mother, Mary Anne, as they sit in the waiting room of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 2007, Mary Anne returned from a humanitarian trip to Pakistan and Afghanistan suffering from what her doctors believed was a rare type of hepatitis. Months later she was diagnosed with a form of advanced pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, often in six months or less.

This is the inspiring true story of a son and his mother, who start a "book club" that brings them together as her life comes to a close. Over the next two years, Will and Mary Anne carry on conversations that are both wide-ranging and deeply personal, prompted by an eclectic array of books and a shared passion for reading. Their list jumps from classic to popular, from poetry to mysteries, from fantastic to spiritual. The issues they discuss include questions of faith and courage as well as everyday topics such as expressing gratitude and learning to listen. Throughout, they are constantly reminded of the power of books to comfort us, astonish us, teach us, and tell us what we need to do with our lives and in the world. Reading isn't the opposite of doing; it's the opposite of dying.

Will and Mary Anne share their hopes and concerns with each other - and rediscover their lives - through their favorite books. When they read, they aren't a sick person and a well person, but a mother and a son taking a journey together. The result is a profoundly moving tale of loss that is also a joyful, and often humorous, celebration of life: Will's love letter to his mother, and theirs to the printed page.

©2012 Will Schwalbe (P)2012 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"With a refreshing forthrightness, and an excellent list of books included, this is an astonishing, pertinent, and wonderfully welcome work." ( Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"A wonderful book about wonderful books and mothers and sons and the enduring braid between them. Like the printed volumes it celebrates, this story will stay with you long after the last page." (Mitch Albom, author of Tuesdays with Morrie and The Time Keeper)

"Will Schwalbe's lyrical tribute to a life well-lived and a death graced with love and literature is a precious gift bestowed on all of us. What a unique and beautiful book this is, and how privileged we are to have it." (Sherwin B. Nuland, author of The Art of Aging and How We Die)

A book everyone should read!

Do you love books and do (did) you love your mother? If you answer yes to these two questions, Will Schwalbe's book should not be missed. I'm not an Audible listener who often reviews books - books are personal and one person's, "Not to be missed!" is another's, "Utter rubbish!" But this one is truly outstanding.

In one book, you receive not only a reading list to work from (oh, yes, I do intend to read some of the books Will and Mary Ann discussed), but you learn how to share the end of a loved one's life. This marks the first time I'll buy a hard copy of a book I've listed to - so that I might share it with others, in much the same way Mary Ann would undoubtedly share her son's lovely homage.

A Life Changing Experience

Would you listen to The End of Your Life Book Club again? Why?

I listened to it several times. Sometimes to just the parts I found particularly moving.

What about Jeff Harding’s performance did you like?

He is an excellent reader.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This book made me laugh and cry. It made me remember all the books that meant so much to me growing up.

Wonderful story and overview of good books

Loved all dialogue between son and mother and all the wonderful book references. It's a treat to learn about such a brilliant and caring life.

A time to share

I loved, not only the depth of story, but the review of books as they continued to read and share. The review of her life and actions and family was full of joy, resolve and honesty. Highly recommend to all who wish to take a step into relationship.

One of the best books I've read in a while!

What made the experience of listening to The End of Your Life Book Club the most enjoyable?

Schwalbe and his mother read and commented on many books that I have read; their comments were short but very insightful. Even though Schwalbe's mother is dying, at no time does the book wallow in self-pity, nor does it become a downer. To the contrary, the woman is strong and positive in the face of a terminal disease and therefore doesn't allow the reader to feel sorry for her. Her son, Will, also does not provoke sorrow.

Enjoyed it

I enjoyed the book more than I did the narrator. I have listened to other books narrated by Jeff Harding and thought he did a good job. But the voice he used for the mother really got on my nerves. His interpretation made me not like Will Schwalbe's mother - which is really sad because I think she was an interesting and formidable person. I get very frustrated when men narrate female dialog - it doesn't have to be breathy or high pitched, just speak in a normal tone.

Great read

A wonderful tribute to an amazing woman. Touching and honest journey through the the last years of a son saying goodbye to his mother.

A good book, but not really for me.

At first I thought I’d made a big mistake choosing this book, and for a while I was tempted to return it. I chose it because I am always struggling to think of my next book to download. You would think, with so many amazing books in the World, that I would have a long list of titles waiting patiently to be read. But for some reason this isn’t the case. I rarely get a book recommended to me and often, when I do, I don’t really like it. I think this is a combination of the fact that I don’t mix with particularly bookish people and I have a particular, perhaps narrow, taste in books. For example, I really like non-fiction and especially popular science.
So I picked this book because I want to venture more into fiction, and I hoped that it would give me lots of great tips for novels to read. Unfortunately, it didn’t.
This is an autobiographical book by an American publisher whose mother is dying of pancreatic cancer. He and his mother are both avid readers, and they turn their informal chats about their reading into a more formal arrangement whereby they read the same books and discuss them. Of course, it is also about the man’s love for, and close relationship with, his dying mother, who lived a busy and unselfish life helping people in war-torn countries around the World.
Although, if I could live my life over again, I probably wouldn’t choose this book second time around, there were definitely some good things about it. The writer has a good engaging style and his reflections on life, dying and death were interesting enough to make me want to carry on listening to the end. For example, he was sitting beside her deathbed and I liked that fact that he admitted that he found this tedious, when I was expecting him to describe it as deeply intense and emotional.
On the negative side, the book is a bit claustrophobic. It is almost exclusively about the man and his mother. Even though he is an interesting man and she was a brave philanthropist, the constant chemotherapy, the gradual deterioration, her physical frailty, their chats, all feel like you are trapped in a hospital room with the 2 of them for 2 years. You would hope that the escape from this would be the discussion of books, but very few, if any, of the books discussed made me think, ‘ooh, that sounds interesting, I must get that one’. This may be because I am shallow, or perhaps because I have different tastes to the author and his Mom. For example, they both appreciate poetry and pottery, and these things play no part whatsoever in my life.
In short, this book is very well-written, but just isn’t really for me. Other people might love it. If you think you might be one of those people, I hope I haven’t put you off!

An inspiring and touching tribute!

Will Schwalbe writes of his love and respect for his dying mother with honesty and candor. He also explores what literature means to us both as individuals and as a society. In the end, this book left me thinking about living and dying and how I would like to be remembered. It also left me with several additions to my reading list! The narration is perfectly pitched to the content. As others have said, this memoir is a book lovers book.

Book by Book, Fall in Love with Schwalbe's Mom

A book for book lovers, and a book that will broaden your Horizons and introduce you to an absolutely remarkable woman. I've heard of some new books that I want to read and I've remembered some wonderful books that I've already read. I've stretched my adoration for women around the world and I've been inspired. Recommend!