Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them): A practical perspective on death and dying

(Paperback)

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We do not know when we will die. We may see it coming from far away, or all at once. But I will die and you will die. You believe that, don't you

You get ready to die the way you get ready for a trip. Start by realizing you don't know the way. Study the language, look at maps, pack your bags. Let yourself imagine what it will be like. Think of this book as a travel guide: a guide to preparing for your own death and the deaths of people close to you.

The fact of death is hard to believe. Sallie Tisdale explores our fears and all the ways death and talking about death make us uncomfortable-and she also explores its intimacies and joys. Tisdale looks at grief, what the last days and hours of life are like, and what happens to dead bodies. Advice for Future Corpses includes stories, exercises, practical advice, personal experience, and a little Buddhist philosophy.

But this isn't a book of inspiration or spiritual advice - Advice for Future Corpses is about how you can get ready. Start by admitting that we are all future corpses.

For anyone with a terminal illness, and those who care for them.

'Sallie Tisdale's life experiences and down-to-earth wisdom takes readers beyond the paralysing dread of death...' - Dr Michael Barbato, author of Caring for the Dying

Reviews

'Tisdale does not write to allay anxieties but to acknowledge them, and she brings death so close, in such detail and with such directness, that something unusual happens, something that feels a bit taboo. She invites not just awe or dread - but our curiosity. And why not We are, after all, just "future corpses pretending we don't know."' - New York Times

'An intimate insider's look at dying, aimed at both caregivers and mortally ill people. Tisdale's forthright narrative voice...is so generous and kind in spirit that readers will gladly follow along.' - Publishers Weekly

'Informed by the Zen Buddhism she practises and shot through with a meditative awareness of the transience of life, this is a very gentle guide on how to go into that "good night".' - Sydney Morning Herald

Author Bio

Sallie Tisdale is a widely published writer and an experienced palliative care nurse. Her writing has appeared in Harper's Bazaar, New Yorker, Antioch Review and Tricycle. She has published several books including Talk Dirty to Me, Stepping Westward, and Women of the Way. She has received numerous awards for her writing, including the Pushcart Prize, an NEA Fellowship, and the James Phelan Literary Award.