TARGET AUDIENCE: Readers of Oliver Sacks’s books, Being Mortal by Atul Gawande, When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Do No Harm by Henry Marsh.

MOVING AND POWERFUL: Inspiring stories of patients who experience dramatically reduced pain and anxiety after hearing Oppert play her cello.

SCIENCE-BASED: Oppert has taken her “Schubert method” to clinical trials, studying music as a counter-stimulation to reduce pain and anxiety during stressful medical procedures.

SENSITIVE WRITING ON DEATH AND DYING: The rising importance of palliative care in an aging society is a key issue across North America and the United Kingdom. Oppert offers firsthand insights into affordable ways that healthcare professionals can support patients with terminal illness, with the power of music and art therapy.

LITERARY QUALITY: Although this book is grounded in health and medical science, Oppert’s writing on art, music, sickness, pain, and dying is poetic and luminous.