Written with the same graceful narrative voice that made his bestselling National Book Award finalistThe Big Housesuch a success, George Howe Colt'sNovember of the Soulis a compassionate, compelling, thought-provoking, and exhaustive investigation into the subject of suicide. Drawing on hundreds of in-depth interviews and a fascinating survey of current knowledge, Colt provides moving case studies to offer insight into all aspects of suicide -- its cultural history, the latest biological and psychological research, the possibilities of prevention, the complexities of the right-to-die movement, and the effects on suicide's survivors.
Presented with deep compassion and humanity,November of the Soulis an invaluable contribution not only to our understanding of suicide but also of the human condition. Imagine a book about a forbidden subject at once so matter-of-fact and thorough that it could be the perfect catalog and as sure-footed and moving as a good novel. This is what George Howe Colt has given us.
--Boston Globe Rigorous, wide-ranging, informed, and humane...Provides much sorely needed wisdom; it will not arrest the crisis, but it could save some lives.
-- Andrew Solomon, author ofThe Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression An utterly fascinating, admirably well-written, and sad book...The literature on the subject -- and the survivors -- are greatly enriched by his evocative treatment of it.