Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"What undergirds Bering's inquiry is the belief that locating the psychological blunders that lead to suicide can help, in time, to curb their prevalence." * New Yorker *
"He weaves together personal stories, delves into whether nonhuman animals die by suicide, and examines the relation of religion and self-killing. These angles offer a critical perspective on a devastating problem."
* Scientific American *
"Suicide is one of the toughest subjects to write about, and psychologist Jesse Bering does it with candor, scientific integrity and genuine empathy in
Suicidal. . . . The book itself is a testament to the human spirit. Researching and writing the book, he says, was a way to combat suicidal ideation and give his own life a renewed sense of purpose. . . .
Suicidal is a vital book--informative, engaging, and enlightening despite its dark subject matter." * Shelf Awareness *
"Jesse Bering is the best science writer at work today."
-- Dan Savage
"By the time you finish reading these sentences someone in the world will have committed suicide. Why do more than a million people a year kill themselves? To answer this question we need a brilliant research scientist, an insightful psychologist, and a sensitive but powerful writer who has seriously contemplated taking their own life. Jesse Bering fits all three criteria and the book you hold in your hands is a deeply moving narrative that cuts to the heart of the ultimate question any of us could ever ask: why should I live? Given what’s at stake in the topic,
Suicidal may very well be the most important book you will ever read." -- Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic Magazine
"I'm not surprised that a book on suicide would be very personal, but I didn’t expect it to be so damn funny. It's also engaging, thoughtful, and sensitive--although Bering is certainly irreverent, there is a real appreciation of how painful and difficult this topic can be. This is a book for scholars and for a general audience, but it is also entirely suitable for people whose lives have been touched by the suicide of someone they loved." -- Paul Bloom, author of Against Empathy
"In
Suicidal, Jesse Bering explores one of the most essential questions we all face: Why keep living? He doesn't claim to have found any easy answers, but his exploration is surprising, funny, touching, and deeply personal.
Suicidal feels like a gift, and reading it reminded me that encounters with great books are reason enough, for now, to keep going." -- Christopher Ryan, author of Sex at Dawn
"I have yet to come away from reading one of [Bering's] essays and not feel considerably better informed than I was just minutes before." * Forbes *
"The book interweaves disciplinary, literary, historical, media, personal and sensationalist sources. . . . the resulting amalgam brilliantly succeeds at providing both an accessible and an earnest account." * Allegra Lab *
Table of Contents1 The Call to Oblivion
2 Unlike the Scorpion Girt by Fire
3 Betting Odds
4 Hacking the Suicidal Mind
5 The Things She Told Lorraine
6 To Log Off This Mortal Coil
7 What Doesn’t Die
8 Gray Matter
Acknowledgments
Resources
Notes
Index
