Is Life Too Long? Essays About Life, Death, and Other Trivial Matters

What makes a life feel complete?Is it longevity—or meaning?In Is Life Too Long?, physician-writer Shahar Madjar reflects on medicine, mortality, love, and the quiet moments that give life its weight. Drawing from years of clinical practice and everyday encounters, these essays explore what it means to live thoughtfully in the face of uncertainty, illness, and time.Written with empathy, philosophical curiosity, and gentle humor, the pieces range from hospital rooms to family kitchens, from moments of loss to flashes of insight. Some essays are intimate, others wry or unsettling—but all are grounded in close attention to human experience.Originally published in regional newspapers and later curated into this collection, these essays stand on their own while forming a larger meditation on life, death, and the questions we carry but rarely ask aloud.Readers of The Dieting Doctor: Which Diet Wins? will recognize Madjar’s voice here: observant, humane, and reflective—this time focused not on food, but on meaning itself.This book is for readers who:Enjoy reflective essays about life, mortality, and purposeAppreciate narrative medicine and human-centered storytellingLike the work of Oliver Sacks, Atul Gawande, or Irvin YalomPrefer thoughtful essays that can be read in one sittingIs Life Too Long? is not a book of answers. It is a companion for readers willing to pause, reflect, and sit with the deeper questions of being human. Read more