A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO DYING

As featured on BBC Radio 4 Funny and touching Sunday Times Extraordinary Observer Full of both wisdom and humour Julia Samuel Funny moving brave Jeremy Bowen I had the privilege to conduct Simon s last broadcast interview knowing his wise words on the page could live on afterwards Emma Barnett READER REVIEWS Simon s cheerful voice comes through every page An absolute gift of a book This book has the potential to change your life Stunning It isn t quite Don t buy any green bananas But it s close to Don t start any long books In his mid 40s Simon Boas was diagnosed with incurable cancer it had been caught too late and spread around his body But he was determined to die as he had learned to live optimistically thinking the best of people and prioritising what really matters in life In A Beginner s Guide to Dying Simon considers and collates the things that have given him such a great sense of peace and contentment and why dying at 46 really isn t so bad And for that reason it s also only partly about dying It is mostly a hymn to the joy and preciousness of life and why giving death a place can help all of us make even more of it