How Not to Kill Yourself

'Illuminating, riveting, and – for those of us who are suffering, or know people who are – potentially life-savingly helpful.' Scott Stossel The last time Clancy Martin tried to kill himself was in his basement with a dog leash. He didn't write a note. How Not to Kill Yourself is an affirmation of life by someone who has tried to end it multiple times. It's about standing in your bathroom every morning, gearing yourself up to die. It's about choosing to go on living anyway. In an unflinching account of his darkest moments, Clancy Martin makes the case against suicide, drawing on the work of philosophers from Seneca to Jean Améry. Through critical inquiry and practical steps, we might yet answer our existential despair more freely – and with a little more creativity.

Clancy Martin's work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper's, Esquire, Lapham's Quarterly, The Paris Review and many other prominent publications. His books include the critically acclaimed How to Sell and Love and Lies.