Deemed “a funny, touching mediation on death” by the Sunday Times, this warm and wise book offers lessons for all of us in how to approach life—from someone in the process of dying.

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.

The advice isn’t quite “Don’t buy any green bananas”—but it’s close to “Don’t start any long books.”

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.