Rating: 
Summary: Realizing What Matters
Review: This is an excellent book by someone who finds he is dying and begins to really assess his life and treasure moments. It's not maudlin and does not dwell on the medical side as much as it focuses on the spiritual side (not religious) of discerning life's meaning. I believe this is a must read for people who need to get a quick dose of perspective. Too often we get mired down in the trivial and we miss the real importance of the every day moments. Sounds trite perhaps, but I know what I learned from watching my best friend die in her early 50s. Sometimes cancer is the wake-up call.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring novel
Review: This short novel is about the life and death of Peter Barton, a very successful entreprenour who lived life fully, yet died early at the age of 51 from stomach cancer.
This book is told in alternative chapters by Barton and Laurence Shames, a writer who befriended Barton at the end of Barton's life in order to help him express his feelings and emotions about his impending death.
This small book contains very big ideas. Barton makes you understand how being wealthy doesn't automatically give you the best medical care, and it certainly doesn't protect you against death. He brings home in this very personal way how health and family are the things that are important, and that the end of life is a complicated, individual experience, full of reflection and introspection.
I thought that it was "gutsy" and generous of Barton to want to share his experiences with the world, and one gets the impression from the book that that is the kind of individual he was.
When you finish the book (you can do it easily in a few hours), you are left appreciative of the things that you normally take for granted, and can briefly try to comprehend the concept of living in the moment.
I say briefly because, alas, I think we are hardwired not to be able to live our lives the way Peter Barton did at the end of his life...living in the here and now and giving up the foolish pursuits that drive us daily. I think that is why books like this are important, so that we can read them and get back to what is important, and try to live our lives thinking about these issues and thus be "ready", when we face the end of our own lives.
Recommended, but I think I would have liked a little more information about Barton's illness and treatment although I understand that it was a conscious decision not to include that in the book.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have read in years!
Review: Truly one of the best books I have read in years. Peter Barton had an extrordinary life! The one question I am asking is why this book is not on the bestsellers list! All in all a truly wonderful book. He has very interesting thoughts about death. HE just sees it as another adventure waiting on the other side. He made smart moves in life and that is what got him in the position he was at the time of his death. LIght in some palces heavy in others. Peter Barton and Laurence Shames truly did a wonderful job!
Rating:
Summary: Beautifully written and truly memorable!
Review: When I saw Laurence Shames interview on televison last week, only having caught a portion of it -- for some inexplicable reason I felt compelled to read this book. I mentioned my interest in reading this book to a few people, and got some sideways glances...I'm sure they were wondering why a pregnant woman would be drawn to a memoir of a dying man? Shouldn't I be reading something a bit livlier? I knew just enough about the remarkable life of Peter Barton that I really wanted to know, what were his final thoughts? This book is about the adventure of being alive, the choices we make and the risks we take that make it incredible. There are pearls of wisdom in this book -- his remarkable insight into business, parenthood, love and of course the eventual struggle we all will face with our own mortality. It's the type of book you finish, and then just sit there for awhile soaking it in -- feeling a bit changed from having read it.
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