Oct 6, 2023
Clancy Martin (University of Missouri in Kansas City; Ashoka University in Delhi, India)
How not to kill yourself: A portrait of the suicidal mind.
FINALIST FOR THE KIRKUS PRIZE FOR
NONFICTION • A MOST
ANTICIPATED BOOK • An intimate, insightful, at times even humorous
blend of memoir and philosophy that examines why the thought of
death is so compulsive for some while demonstrating that there’s
always another solution—from the acclaimed writer and philosophy
professor, based on his viral essay, “I’m Still Here.”
“A deep meditation that searches through Martin’s past looking for
answers about why he is the way he is, while also examining the
role suicide has played in our culture for centuries, how it has
evolved, and how philosophers have examined it.”
—Esquire
“A rock for people who’ve been troubled by suicidal ideation, or
have someone in their lives who is.” —The New York Times
“If you’re going to write a book about
suicide, you have to be willing to say the true things, the scary
things, the humiliating things. Because everybody who is being
honest with themselves knows at least a little bit about the
subject. If you lie or if you fudge, the reader will
know.”
The last time Clancy Martin tried to kill himself was in his
basement with a dog leash. It was one of over ten attempts
throughout the course of his life. But he didn’t die, and like many
who consider taking their own lives, he hid the attempt from his
wife, family, coworkers, and students, slipping back into his daily
life with a hoarse voice, a raw neck, and series of vague
explanations.
In How Not to Kill
Yourself, Martin chronicles his multiple suicide
attempts in an intimate depiction of the mindset of someone
obsessed with self-destruction. He argues that, for the vast
majority of suicides, an attempt does not just come out of the
blue, nor is it merely a violent reaction to a particular crisis or
failure, but is the culmination of a host of long-standing issues.
He also looks at the thinking of a number of great writers who have
attempted suicide and detailed their experiences (such as David
Foster Wallace, Yiyun Li, Akutagawa, Nelly Arcan, and others), at
what the history of philosophy has to say both for and against
suicide, and at the experiences of those who have reached out to
him across the years to share their own struggles.
The result combines memoir with critical inquiry to powerfully give
voice to what for many has long been incomprehensible, while
showing those presently grappling with suicidal thoughts that they
are not alone, and that the desire to kill oneself—like other
self-destructive desires—is almost always temporary and
avoidable.
Clancy Martin, a Canadian, is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and at Ashoka University in Delhi, India. He divides his time between Kansas City and India. He is married to the writer Amie Barrodale, and has five children: Zelly, Margaret, Portia Ratna and Kali, and an unruly labradoodle, Simha. A Guggenheim Fellow, his work has been translated into more than thirty languages. He writes fiction, nonfiction and philosophy. He is a contributing editor for Harper's magazine and Vice magazine, and has published academic and popular articles, essays and Op-Ed pieces in such diverse places as New Yorker, The New York Times, Harper's, New Republic, 1843/The Economist, Lapham's Quarterly, The Atlantic, Ethics, The Wall Street Journal, The Journal of the History of Philosophy, Elle, Details, Men's Journal, The London Times, The London Review of Books, De Repubblicca, and many others. He is a contributor to the Teaching Company's "Great Courses" series. His work has been optioned for television/film development by Sony, HBO, Anonymous Content and other production companies. His most recent work is on suicide, failed suicide and suicidal ideation. He is a recovering alcoholic, and has written and been interviewed extensively about alcoholism, addiction and suicide.