Chris Gerolmo's Death for Beginners, in the words of Bruce Feirstein, is "a heart-wrenching, brutally honest, and ultimately cathartic book about losing his wife to cancer... The book makes you stop and think, and even laugh, about the things we take for granted in our lives, and in the lives and departures of our loved ones. From A to Z, it's a soul-searching chronicle of a death foretold that offers hope and sustenance, with a remarkable absence of empty platitudes, for all of us."
Tom Larkin, an impossibly famous rock icon, dies tragically at the hands of a deranged fan--or so the world believes. In reality, Tom narrowly escapes and recuperates in a secret hospital. His loving but imperious wife Katrinka becomes convinced that it's safer for everyone if he stays dead. Reluctantly, Tom agrees to live out his days in obscurity until an old enemy reveals that his life is still in danger.
Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as "redefining mourning," this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices, accompanied by gorgeous two-color illustrations and wry infographics. At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it’s clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map. Let’s face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We’re awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit. Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and—above all—empathize. Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN’s Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Accompanied by beautiful hand-drawn illustrations and witty "how to" cartoons, each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message. Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.
A study based on the author's experiences working with the termimally ill examines the death process, discussing such topics as grief, near-death experiences, preparation, and regret-proofing life
Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, ripped apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances -- in their house, on the roadway, in the market. Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron has spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. When he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, independent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly, he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable life together. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and find some peace. Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, (turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trails of life) that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye. A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humour, wisdom, and always penetrating look at human foibles.
With efficiency and a touch of humor, this valuable guidebook offers information on the difficult subject of planning for one's own death or organizing funerals for loved ones. Topics ranging from cremation, burial, caskets, services, and organ donation are explored, and each section offers data, definitions, examples, pros and cons, and helpful worksheets for narrowing down the best options. Numerous sidebars that offer engaging and occasionally bizarre facts on the death industry are also included. Emphasizing practicality and frugality, a bevy of money-saving steps are explored, citing that if smart choices are made beforehand then expensive choices made in grief can be avoided. Ideal for the time-constrained, this comprehensive resource presents fast facts in an easy-to-read format, while helpful links for each topic are compiled in an accompanying website. Readers will benefit from the peace of mind that follows the creation of a structured plan to reduce the financial burdens and emotional distress on loved ones left behind.
Zen masters describe ?Beginner?s Mind? as the mental state that can help us face the most severe challenges with flexibility, courage, and integrity. Since we are all destined to be beginners at dying, long-time hospice physician Patrick Clary invites us to embrace the virtues of this status in his new book of poetry, DYING FOR BEGINNERS (Lost Borders Press; October 20, 2006) . Entering this aspect of our inner lives may help us as we seek to be present to others, to fully inhabit ourselves, and to make our own choices as we die.A conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, Patrick Clary first faced issues of death and dying as a medic in an infantry unit. DYING FOR BEGINNERS is not just a collection of poems, but a lyrical memoir of love, life and death in our time, from the Nevada desert to Southeast Asia, from Jonestown, Guyana to big city ER. Through more than 20 years of caring for gravely ill patients and their families Dr. Clary has come to believe that death can be as miraculous as birth, and that living fully is the best preparation for dying well. This is a book of poetry that can help you change your life."Patrick Clary, his compassion combined with fierce attention, sees the dying and schools his own center to make each beginner?s journey into death as gentle as may be. Quaker, Buddhist, Vision Quester, he has condensed his diverse experiences into a book of poetry suitable for mortals, or anyone who loves them".? Donald Hall, Poet Laureate of the United States
As seen on Netflix - from the New York Times bestselling author of The Bodyguard and Hello Stranger Helen Carpenter can’t quite seem to bounce back. Newly divorced at thirty-two, her life has fallen apart beyond her ability to put it together again. So when her annoying younger brother, Duncan, convinces her to sign up for a hardcore wilderness survival course in the backwoods of Wyoming—she hopes it’ll be exactly what she needs. Instead, it’s a disaster. It’s nothing like she wants, or expects, or anticipates. She doesn’t anticipate the surprise summer blizzard, for example—or the blisters, or the rutting elk, or the mean pack of sorority girls. And she especiallydoesn’t anticipate that her annoying brother’s even-more-annoying best friend, Jake, will show up for the exact same course—and distract her, derail her, and . . . kiss her. But it turns out sometimes disaster can teach you exactly the things you need to learn. Like how to keep going, even when you think you can’t. How being scared can make you brave. And how sometimes getting really, really lost is your only hope of getting found. Happiness for Beginners is Katherine Center at her most heart-warming, captivating best—a nourishing, page-turning, up-all-night read about how to get back up. It’s a story that looks at how our struggles lead us to our strengths. How love is always worth it. And how the more good things we look for, the more we find.
