What doesn't kill us makes us : who we become after tragedy and trauma / Mike Mariana.
Material type:
TextPublisher: New York, New York : Ballantine Books, [2022]Edition: First editionDescription: xxxv, 358 pages ; 25 cmContent type: - text
- unmediated
- volume
- 9780593236949
- 0593236947
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
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Main Library | NonFiction | 155.93 M333 | Available | 33111010875892 | ||||
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Adult Book
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Northport Library | NonFiction | 155.93 M333 | Available | 33111009443751 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
"A bold and intricate exploration of catastrophe as not just a transformative experience or a test case for resilience, but something that completely reinvents us--a reincarnation."--Robert Kolker, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Hidden Valley Road
"A masterpiece--a book that truly captures what it means to be changed by tragedy, and a necessary salve for our troubled times."--Ed Yong, New York Times bestselling author of An Immense World and I Contain Multitudes
"What doesn't kill us makes us stronger," the adage--adapted from Nietzsche's famous maxim--goes. But how much truth is there to that ubiquitous, inexhaustible saying? Tracing the lives of six people who have experienced profoundly life-changing events, journalist Mike Mariani explores the nuances and largely uncharted territory of what happens after one's life is severed into a before and after. If what doesn't kill us does not necessarily make us stronger, he asks, what does it make us?
When his own life was transformed by the onset of a chronic illness, Mariani turned inward, changing his bustling, exuberant lifestyle into something more contemplative and deliberate. In this ambitious work of narrative reporting, he uses his own experience, as well as lessons from psychology, literature, mythology, and religion, to tell the stories of people living what he describes as "afterlives." His subjects' harrowing episodes range from a paralyzing car crash to a personality-altering traumatic brain injury to an accidental homicide that resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment. Their "afterlives," Mariani argues, have compelled them to supercharge their identities, narrowing and deepening their focus to find a sense of meaning--whether through academia or religion or ministering to others--in lives sundered by tragedy. Only then can these people truly reinvent themselves, testifying to their own unseen multitudes and the valiant mutability of the human spirit.
Delving into lives we rarely see in such meticulous detail--lives filled with struggle, loss, perseverance, transformation, and triumph--Mariani leads us into some of the darkest corners of human existence, only to reveal our endless capacity for kindling new light.
Includes bibliographical references.
"A deep examination of what happens after life-altering events, from car accidents to incarceration, and how we forge new identities when our lives are cleaved irrevocably into a before and after "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger," the saying goes. But does it really? Tracing the lives of six people who have experienced catastrophic, life-changing events, journalist Mike Mariani explores the nuances of what happens after one's life is cleaved into a before and after. If what doesn't kill us doesn't necessarily make us stronger, he asks, what does it make us? When his own life was transformed by the diagnosis of a chronic illness, Mariani turned inward, changing his active existence into a more pensive one. In this ambitious work of reporting, he uses his own experience, as well as the lessons of medicine, literature, mythology, and religion, to tell the stories of people living what he terms "afterlives." Their experiences range from a paralyzing car crash to a personality-altering traumatic brain injury to an accidental homicide that resulted in a sentence of life imprisonment. Their "afterlives," Mariani argues, have supercharged their identities, forcing them to narrow and deepen their focus to find their sense of purpose-whether through academia or religion or helping others-in identities that have been struck by tragedy and then dramatically reinvented. Delving into lives we rarely see in such detail-lives filled with struggle, loss, perseverance, and triumph-Mariani brings us to the darkest aspects of human existence, only to show us just how much we are capable of becoming"-- Provided by publisher.