History of a Suicide by Jill Bialosky
In this New York Times bestseller, Jill Bialosky, poet and author, undergoes "a profound and lyrical investigation" (New York magazine) as she attempts to understand the events and emotional state that led her sister to commit suicide and the impact of her death on family and loved ones.On April 15, 1990, Kim, Jill Bialosky's younger sister, arrived home from a bar after a fight with her boyfriend. She took her mother's keys, went into the closed garage, and turned on the ignition. Her body was discovered the next morning by a neighborhood boy.
For decades, Bialosky has grappled with the guilt, questions, and devastation that was unloosed by Kim's suicide. Now, in this remarkable memoir, she attempts to reconstruct the complex inner life of her sister and in doing so, unlocks the nature of suicide itself and how we are each deeply affected by it.
In the course of trying to understand what drove her sister that night, Bialosky examines some of the most fundamental questions of human nature--why some of us more emotionally stable than others, even when raised in the same circumstances; how the unconscious shape our identities; what the difference is between depression and suicidal feelings; and why we sometimes fail to love and protect one another.
Combining Kim's own personal writings with family history, medical reportage, literary criticism, and research, Bialosky has crafted "an extraordinarily valiant and resonant testimony to the healing powers of truth and empathy" (Booklist).
JILL BIALOSKY is the author of four acclaimed collections of poetry, most recently The Players; three critically acclaimed novels, most recently, The Prize; a New York Times best-selling memoir, History of a Suicide: My Sister's Unfinished Life; and Poetry Will Save Your Life: A Memoir. Her poems and essays have appeared in Best American Poetry, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's Magazine, O, The Oprah Magazine, The Kenyon Review, Harvard Review, and The Paris Review, among others. She coedited, with Helen Schulman, the anthology Wanting a Child. She is executive editor and vice president at W. W. Norton & Company. Her work has been a finalist for the James Laughlin Prize, the Patterson Prize, and Books for a Better Life. In 2014, she was honored by the Poetry Society of America for her distinguished contribution to poetry. She lives in New York City.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781439101940 |
| ISBN 10 | 1439101949 |
| Title | History of a Suicide |
| Author | Jill Bialosky |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Washington Square Press |
| Year published | 2012-02-07 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |