How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences

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Pub Date 1 Mar 2020 | Archive Date 31 Mar 2020

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Description

2021 Clara Johnson Award from Jane's Stories Press Foundation 
2020 Gold Winner for Autobiography & Memoir in the Foreword INDIES

Many are haunted and obsessed by their own eventual deaths, but perhaps no one as much as Sue William Silverman. This thematically linked collection of essays charts Silverman’s attempt to confront her fears of that ultimate unknown. Her dread was fomented in part by a sexual assault, hidden for years, that led to an awareness that death and sex are in some ways inextricable, an everyday reality many women know too well.
              
Through gallows humor, vivid realism, and fantastical speculation, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences explores this fear of death and the author’s desire to survive it. From cruising New Jersey’s industry-blighted landscape in a gold Plymouth to visiting the emergency room for maladies both real and imagined to suffering the stifling strictness of an intractable piano teacher, Silverman guards her memories for the same reason she resurrects archaic words—to use as talismans to ward off the inevitable. Ultimately, Silverman knows there is no way to survive death physically. Still, through language, commemoration, and metaphor, she searches for a sliver of transcendent immortality.

2021 Clara Johnson Award from Jane's Stories Press Foundation 
2020 Gold Winner for Autobiography & Memoir in the Foreword INDIES

Many are haunted and obsessed by their own eventual deaths, but...


Advance Praise

“A joyously unconventional memoir written at least in part as a hedge against mortality. It will shake loose memories, invite you to ponder, and, maybe best of all, make you laugh. This is a marvelously written, imaginative, and seriously funny book.”—Abigail Thomas, New York Times best-selling author of What Comes Next and How to Like It


“With true originality and wit, Silverman takes readers on a wild ride through time, memory, pleasure, and trauma. What remains is a deeply human portrait of one woman’s resilience and the power of her spirit. I couldn’t put it down.”—Christina Haag, New York Times best-selling author of Come to the Edge: A Love Story

“A joyously unconventional memoir written at least in part as a hedge against mortality. It will shake loose memories, invite you to ponder, and, maybe best of all, make you laugh. This is a...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781496214096
PRICE US$19.95 (USD)
PAGES 200

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Average rating from 12 members


Featured Reviews

Probably the most surprising thing about Sue William Silverman’s new book is how funny it is. After all, it’s a book about death. About the inconvenience of death, and how to survive it. Since many of these memoir-essays stress the importance of art and language to transcend our mortality, it should be no surprise that the prose here is luscious. Her diction ranges from faux-noir gun moll swagger to fan-girl concert swoon. Like her previous memoir, "The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew," Silverman pushes the boundaries of creative nonfiction. She is a fearless literary stylist – which makes sense if you’re relying upon words to save your life. In addition to the humor and experimentation, this is a book of the #MeToo moment. Some of the most powerful scenes in the book have to do with violence against women – the writer herself, a murdered aunt, a high school girlfriend gunned down in her drug-dealing boyfriend’s apartment. What sets Silverman apart from other memoirists is her willingness to laugh until she cries, and then cry until she laughs. In the end, if you have to go, then you should, like Silverman, do it in style. Except, she’s not planning on going.

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Sue William Silverman has earned a reputation for biting wit, potent language and imagery, and radical transparency. Her latest book, "How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences," provides a series of memoir essays that take us to the edge of pain and despondency, yet offer hope through recovering the shattered shards of her life and struggling to insert them into a narrative of survival. Silverman draws on the powers of archaic words, black humor, and powerful biographic images to confront and challenge echoes of mortality throughout her life cycle. She exposes us to her father’s sexual violations, the knife-thin stranger who assaults her at the Jersey shore, an ecstatic experience of Adam Lambert, and multiple encounters with violation, illness, and death. The journey ends with her declaration: “So this is my confession, my testament, because if I have to go, I’m not going quietly.”

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Sue William Silverman has seen, endured, and survived some intense trauma. She has died multiple times in her life and has come back as a phoenix rising from the ashes. In this harrowing memoir, Silverman shares her deaths and resurrections in a poetic and artful way that almost off-sets the horrific nature of the stories.

While I admire Silverman's strength and prose, it was just not constructed in a way that resonated with me. The stories and certain chapters were beautifully written and kept me incredibly engaged, but the transitions and the tough formatting made it hard for me to stay wrapped up in the story. I felt like I was going every direction and found myself reading about one thing that felt seemingly not connected to the previous.

On the other hand, maybe that's a beautiful way to describe trauma and the life after.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read an ARC of this story.

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I connected with this book on so many levels. I am a huge hypochondriac and always think something is wrong with me and get frustrated when no one else believes me and or will listen to me. I feel alone, frustrated and unsupported. I connected with the author so much in this aspect. This book flowed to me like a book of short stories and the flow of relationships and the support or lack of support of things we can go through in life. Highly suggest.

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The author has lived through so much trauma sexual attack horrific situations.All of these experiences sound shocking depressing but somehow in this group of raw intimate essays she still can make us laugh out loud.#netgalley#nebraska press

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I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

Like a few others have said, I wasn't expecting this book to be funny.... I mean it's about death. But she's definitely witty.
This book is partially a memoir about the author's intense traumas / life & death experiences... and also a variety of essays about death / fears / etc.

It was an interesting read, and I enjoyed it.

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A beautifully written collection of autobiographical essays. Her style is wonderfully descriptive and sensual. I really enjoyed this.

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A collection of essays detailing the author's past experiences and traumas that have led her to the point of being incredibly fearful of death. Sharp, clever and a good read, the book will make you marvel at the resilience of the human spirit and make you think about your own inevitable demise!

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