A Preparation for Death - Softcover

Baxter, Greg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141048433 ISBN 13: 9780141048437

Publisher: Penguin, 2010

Synopsis

'Traditional autobiography is composed after the experience has passed. I wrote this book in the very panic of the experiences that inspired it ... '

In his early thirties, Greg Baxter found himself in a strange place. He hated his job, he was drinking excessively, he was sabotaging his most important relationships, and he was no longer doing the thing he cared about most: writing. Strangest of all, at this time he started teaching evening classes in creative writing - and his life changed utterly.

A Preparation for Death is a document of the chaos and discovery of that time and of the experiences that led Greg Baxter to that strange place - an extraordinarily intimate account of literary failure (and its consequences), personal decay, and redemption through reading, writing, and truth-telling. Studded with vivid, loving portraits of the people closest to him - his Austrian grandmother, who narrowly survived the Second World War; his mother and father, both described with heartbreakingly close attention; and his cousin Walter, whose own demons provide a striking counterpoint to the author's - it is above all a stunningly vivid and searching self-portrait: possibly the most honest book you'll ever read.

About this title

About the Author

Greg Baxter was born in Texas in 1974. For the past ten years he has lived in Dublin, where he works as a journalist.

From the Back Cover

Greg Baxter's A Preparation for Death is an extraordinary memoir of literary failure, personal decay, and redemption through teaching, writing and truth-telling. Set against the backdrop of a city (Dublin) moving quickly from boom to bust, and featuring extraordinary portraits of the people closest to the author - his Austrian grandmother, who narrowly survived the Second World War; his mother and father, both described with heartbreakingly close attention; and his cousin Walter, whose own demons provide a striking counterpoint to the author's - this is above all a stunningly truthful self-portrait: possibly the most honest book you'll ever read.

Edition details

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2010
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0141048433
• ISBN 13: 9780141048437
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 224