As I Lay Dying. This item is unavailable.As I Lay Dying

A graceful and probing meditation on death and dying, inspired by the author's own near-death experience and reminiscent of C. S. Lewis's classic A Grief Observed. . Several years ago, a ruptured tumor almost killed Richard John Neuhaus. During a series of complicated operations, weeks in critical condition, and months in slow recovery, he was brought face to face with his own mortality. As he lay dying and, as it turned out, recovering, he found that despite his faith he had been quite unprepared for the experience. This book traces his efforts to understand his own reactions and those of his friends and family, and explores how we as a culture understand and deal with death. As I Lay Dying testifies that dying is-and is not-part of living. We can and should live our dying. Neuhaus interweaves his own story with thoughtful inquiry, circling through philosophy, psychology, literature, theology, and his own experiences to create provocative meditations that explore the many aspects of dying: the private and public experience, the separation of the soul from the body, grief, surrender, and mourning. The result is a book that shakes the foundations of our being-and yet is oddly and convincingly tranquil.

Richard John Neuhaus is acclaimed as one of the foremost authorities on religion in the contemporary world and is President of the Institute on Religion and Public Life. He is the editor-in-chief of the Institute's monthly publication First Things. He is the author of many books, including Freedom for Ministry, The Naked Public Square, The Catholic Movement, Believing Today, Death on a Friday Afternoon, and As I Lay Dying. A priest of the Archdiocese of New York, he lives in Manhattan.