The final work, unfinished at his death this year, by the polymath essayist Christopher Hitchens. An uneven work with some acerbic observations about Tumortown and Tumorville and the passage from healthy person to patient, the abruptness and lack of preparation for the transition. He saves his best licks for the religious folks who either pray for him or take pleasure in his illness. He has cogent observations about medical care and the descent of the body towards death. He quotes T.S. Eliot in an “epitaph”—

“I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,

And I have seen the Eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,

And in short, I was afraid.”

~ “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”

The best parts are the introduction by Graydon Carter and the afterword by Carol Blue, his wife. I will miss him.