The voice and mood of this essay are unsettling; the author sets his work by focusing on death he accomplishes his objectives by explaining the encounter he had with death. One early morning the author Christopher Hitchens, had an appointment to appear on The Daily Show, but as he wakes up, he experiences the feeling of death resulting in him contacting emergency services. Before the morning incident, during his appointments at night, Christopher Hitchens felt like he was falling sick, as he vomited twice even though he managed to pull through without alerting those who were in attendance of his book launch. The author reveals that he has been diagnosed with cancer that was affecting his lungs, esophagus, and clavicle. He analyses his cancer situation by referring to his father who died of esophagus cancer; further, he explains the same by using an outline informed by different stages of mourning. Christopher Hitchens confesses that he is afraid of accepting his cancer situation as he fears the prospect of dying.