A Beginner’s Guide to Dying
A Beginner’s Guide to Dying by Simon Boas, published by Random House on July 15, 2025, is a reflective exploration of life and mortality. In this 160-page book, Boas shares his personal journey after being diagnosed with incurable cancer, emphasizing an optimistic approach to life even in the face of death. Through his storytelling, he highlights the importance of prioritizing meaningful relationships and offers insights on how to navigate the complexities of grief and loss.
Readers will find a blend of humor and wisdom as Boas presents lessons on living fully while confronting the reality of dying. The book addresses themes related to self-help, grief, and relationships, providing practical advice on how to connect with others during difficult times. A Beginner’s Guide to Dying serves not only as a meditation on mortality but also as a celebration of life’s joys, making it a poignant read for anyone seeking to understand the human experience.
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INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER • Lessons for all of us in how to approach life—from someone in the process of dying. • “Simon Boas was a gifted storyteller with a rare ability to find humor and humanity in life’s most profound moments. A Beginner’s Guide to Dying showcases his wit, warmth, and wisdom, offering a deeply moving and unexpectedly funny meditation on mortality.” —Hospice Nurse Julie McFadden, author of Nothing to Fear
In his mid-40s, aid worker Simon Boas was diagnosed with incurable cancer—it had been caught too late, and spread throughout his body. But he was determined to die as he had learned to live—optimistically, thinking the best of people, and prioritizing what really matters in life. Deemed “a funny, touching meditation on death” by the Sunday Times, this warm and wise book offers lessons for all of us in how to approach life.
The advice includes: “Do get in touch, but don’t just turn up unaccounted,” and “Do listen, but don’t minimize things.” And just as wisely: “to exist is to have won the lottery of life.”
This remarkable book, a runaway bestseller in the UK, is not just a meditation on dying, but also a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life. A Beginner’s Guide to Dying is destined to become a modern classic.
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