Talking About Death Won't Kill You - Hardcover

Morris, Virginia

4.15

47 ratings by Goodreads

9780761112310: Talking About Death Won't Kill You

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0761112316 ISBN 13: 9780761112310

Publisher: Workman Publishing Company, 2001

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With its wise and very compelling argument that we should face death before it faces us, Talking About Death Won't Kill You addresses cultural, personal, medical, and legal concerns to find a way for us-as individuals, and as a society-to prepare for a good death, a death where the dying are in control and not, as is too often the case, caught in a downward spiral of medical intervention and misunderstood intentions. It is an argument for facing fears. An argument for taking the thought of our death out of the shadows of denial and preparing, with our loved ones, the living wills, medical directives, value history forms, and even simple letters that will explain what it truly is we want when the time comes. It is an argument for honest diagnosis, for hospice care, for creating rituals, for finding love and comfort at the end instead of false hope and forbidding technology. With its skillful interweaving of personal stories and practical matters, scientific fact and spiritual sensitivity, Talking About Death Won't Kill You is a powerful book about how we can achieve a greater sense of peace in dying, and so rediscover the art of living.

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About the Author:

Virginia Morris lectures on the topic of aging parents around the country and has been featured on a host of national media. She testified about eldercare issues before the U.S. Joint Economic Committee and is also the author of Talking About Death. Ms. Morris lives with her husband and two children in Sag Harbor, New York.

From Publishers Weekly:

Even in this candidly confessional age, formidable silences still surround death. Acknowledging that "death will never be easy" and "will always cause suffering," Morris (How to Care for an Aging Parent) strongly advocates accepting that death "does and will happen," and preparing for it. Drawing on case histories, she shows how people often distance themselves from death and those who are dying fail to communicate clear wishes, even to their closest family members. Maureen D'Honau, for example, knew from prior discussions with her husband that he did not want to "drag out his death." However, when he became terminally ill with emphysema, she was unable to prevent the very painful and lengthy death he endured hooked up to machines because they had not understood the medical options or talked about specifics. According to Morris, the process of dying has been handed over to medical professionals, rather than family members and friends, because of our unwillingness to discuss and plan for death. Offering a wealth of information on Do Not Resuscitate orders, pain medication, living wills and hospice care, Morris provides a useful, clearly written and thought-provoking analysis. (July)Forecast: With a 15-city author tour, a $75,000 marketing budget and a national advertising campaign, this book is poised to build on the commercial success of Morris's previous book. Still, it will take a major media break for the book to establish itself in its crowded niche and sell through its first printing of 50,000.

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