Book Club Discussion Questions and Guide for Briefly Perfectly Human by Alua Arthur

1. How does Alua Arthur's perspective on her own life evolve over the course of the book? What roles do wandering and wonder play in that evolution?
2. Can you pinpoint a time when Arthur's thinking about her own death begins to shift? Why does it?
3. Which stories from Arthur's work as a death doula stood out to you most? Discuss the range of reactions you had to these diverse death experiences.
4. Arthur dedicates Briefly Perfectly Human "To the too much, to the not enough, to the wanderers, to the aching dreamers, to the perpetual seekers of nothing to be found." Where do you see yourself among these?
5. How does Arthur's own experience inform the way she interacts with her clients?
6. Arthur's life and identity sometimes align with her clients' and sometimes differ. What did you notice about the outcome of either scenario?
7. In an ideal world, what role do you think death doulas should play? How would you imagine working with one?
8. Reflect on the attitudes around death you brought to your experience of reading Briefly Perfectly Human. Have you ever witnessed a death? Has your perspective on dying shifted? How?
9. Imagine your own death. What emotions and sensations arise? Do you feel you're living in a way that will end in the death you've imagined for yourself?

Unless otherwise stated, this discussion guide is reprinted with the permission of Mariner Books. Any page references refer to a USA edition of the book, usually the trade paperback version, and may vary in other editions.