The Consolations of Mortality

"Charming . . . [Stark] considers four stories about why death might not be as bad as we tend to suppose."—Colin McGinn, Wall Street Journal 

"Exciting and accessible . . . each chapter is engaging."—William Simkulet, Library Journal

"Stark has an exceptionally rich, often playful, imagination, one that draws on highly engaging ideas, speculations, epigrams, and thought experiments with which to build his argument. . . . [A] lively and adventurous book."—Daniel Callahan, Commonweal

"[The Consolations of Mortality] provides arresting insights about how we think about being dead (and alive)."—Glenn C. Altschuler, Psychology Today

"A profound and at times moving philosophical meditation. . . . This is engaged philosophy at its best, designed to help the reader think about, and live, a better life."—A. W. Klink, Choice

Won the 2017 Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Title

"A deeply absorbing book, laced with humor and wisdom, that confronts the ultimate question–if we must die, how should we think about living? Andrew Stark’s answers will surprise you."—Mark Lilla, Columbia University

"Infallibly interesting, sensible, and mercifully accessible, The Consolations of Mortality guides us through the ways people across the centuries have thought about the end. Andrew Stark has  an uncanny talent for finding perfect quotes and anecdotes and is a gifted story teller."—William Ian Miller, author of Losing It

"Consolations of Mortality is a deeply literary engagement with a subject that will ever bedevil us. It persuasively—and unsentimentally—points the way to peace and even gratitude for the inevitable."—Michael Greenberg, author of Hurry Down Sunshine