A Guidebook Everyone Can Use
Intent on being as palpably honest, helpful, and relatable as any guide to this big a subject could be, A Beginner's Guide to the End covers everything from will-making to making peace with your dysfunctional family. You’ll be walked through how to break the news to your employer, whether or not to share old secrets, how to hack the hospital for a better stay, what questions to ask your doctor (even uncomfortable ones, like whether or not sex is still ok), what to put in your "When I Die" file, and how to leave a letter that leaves a mark. There are also lessons for survivors, like how shut down a loved one’s social media accounts, clean out the house, and write a great eulogy. “Next to birth, death is one of our most profound experiences,” Miller and Berger write. “Shouldn’t we talk about it, prepare for it, use what it can teach us about how to live?”.