Jerome Groopman does not fear the reaper. In The Measure of Our Days, this prominent Harvard researcher offers an unflinching portrait of terminal illness as seen through the eyes of a compassionate physician. The result is a profound true story of doctor and patients grappling with the nightmarish realities of cancer and AIDS.

Tracking eight patients through the course of their illnesses, Groopman provides a detailed medical and psychological picture of disease and its treatment, while never omitting the complexity of his own deeply vested feelings. Some of his patients live, some die; some are passive, some are pushy, but all are desperately frightened. Throughout, Dr. Groopman and his patients share a wrenching humanity.