Briefly Perfectly Human: Making an Au... - BEM |books & more (2024)

A deeply transformative memoir that reframes how we think about death and how it can help us lead better, more fulfilling and authentic lives, from America’s most visible death doula.

"Atruly unique, inspiring perspective on the time we have, what we do with it, and how we let go of this world.... There is no one I'd trust more to guide me through an understanding of death, and how it informs life."—Jodi Picoult,New York Timesbestselling author ofMad HoneyandThe Book of Two Ways

"Briefly Perfectly Humanis a beautiful, raw, light-bringing experience. Alua's voice is shimmering, singular, and pulses with humor, vulnerability, insight, and refreshing candor.... Be prepared for it to grab you, hold youtight, and raise the roof on the power of human connection."—Tembi Locke, author ofFrom Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message:thinkingabout your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life.

Warm, generous, and funny AF, Alua supports and helps manage end-of-life care on many levels. The business matters, medical directives, memorial planning; but also honoring the quiet moments, when monitors are beeping and loved ones have stepped out to get some air—or maybe not shown up at all—and her clients become deeply contemplative and want to talk. Aching, unfinished business often emerges. Alua has been present for thousands of these sacred moments—when regrets, fears, secret joys, hidden affairs, and dim realities are finally said aloud. When this happens, Alua focuses her attention at the pulsing center of her clients’ anguish and creates space for them, and sometimes their loved ones, to find peace.

This has had a profound effect on Alua, who was already no stranger to death’s periphery. Her family fled a murderous coup d’état in Ghana in the 1980s. She has suffered major, debilitating depressions. And her dear friend and brother-in-law died of lymphoma. Advocating for him in his final months is what led Alua to her life’s calling. She knows firsthand the power of bearing witness and telling the truth about life’s painful complexities, because they do not disappear when you look the other way. They wait for you.

Briefly Perfectly Humanis a life-changing, soul-gathering debut, by a writer whose empathy, tenderness, and wisdom shimmers on the page. Alua Arthur combines intimate storytelling with a passionate appeal for loving, courageous end-of-life care—what she calls “death embrace.” Hers is a powerful testament to getting in touch with something deeper in our lives, by embracing the fact of our own mortality. “Hold that truth in your mind,” Alua says, “and wondrous things will begin to grow around it.”

BIO

Alua Arthuris the most visible and active death doula working in America today. She is a recovering attorney and the founder of Going with Grace, a death doula training and end-of-life planning organization. Her TED Talk titled, “Why Thinking About Death Helps You Live a Better Life,” went online in July 2023 and has already received 1.3 million views.A frequent guest on TV and radio, Arthur has been featured on CBS’sThe Doctorsand in Disney'sLimitlessdocu-series with Chris Hemsworth, as well as in national print media outlets, such asVogue,InStyle, theLos Angeles Times,The Cut,The New Yorker, and theNew York Times. International newspaper features on Arthur include Brazil’sEstadãoand Norway’sÅrets Avis. She has appeared on dozens of podcasts, and a Refinery29 video feature on Arthur and her work received ten million views across social platforms. In non-pandemic times, she travels the country and world as a keynote speaker, addressing audiences of several hundred to several thousand people at medical and end-of-life conferences, universities, seminaries, senior citizens’ communities, and more.

REVIEWS

'This book is everything I admire about Alua's work. She drapes the reaper in sparkles and sunsets, allowing you to stare down mortality's harshest truths swaddled in safety, joy, and the dignity of unsparing honesty.' --Caitlin Doughty, author ofSmoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

'Briefly Perfectly Humanis a beautiful, raw, light-bringing experience. Alua's voice is shimmering, singular, and pulses with humor, vulnerability, insight, and refreshing candor.I am here for every page of this card-on-the-table offering of the authentic heart. Be prepared for it to grab you, hold youtight, and raise the roof on the power of human connection.' --Tembi Locke, author ofFrom Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home

'There are two truths universal to the human experience: one, we're all going to die, and two, if we try to pretend that's not true, we'll never really live. This is whatAlua Arthur knows firsthand — and shares with us in a book sizzling with vitality on every page.' --Lori Gottlieb,New York Timesbestselling author ofMaybe You Should Talk to Someoneand co-host of theDear Therapistspodcast

'Briefly Perfectly Humanis a deeplyurgent, divinely-inspired memoir that guides our understanding of death as an inevitable part of this glorious human experience. Alua Arthur's life, myriad personal losses, and death doula care are a gift. Her extraordinary insight into how we can truly live is inspiring. As a physician, I strive for the day when we, as Americans, fully support the health of the living and, when it is time, tend to a peaceful death.Briefly Perfectly Human, so aptly titled, is a positive model of what healthcare could be.' -- Michele Harper, author of The Beauty in Breaking: A Memoir

'Alua Arthur is a wild gem and a guiding light who is here to help all of us understand one simple truth — that embracing death actually helps us to live a moremeaningful life.Briefly Perfectly Humanencompasses laughter and love and all the rich complexities that come with being a person in the world. For anyone who has ever loved, grieved, wondered, and feared, this book will leave you inspired and emboldened.' -- Claire Bidwell Smith, author ofConscious Grieving

[H] Mariner Books / April 16, 2024

1.2" H x 9.1" L x 6.3" W (0.85 lbs)272 pages