Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying [Hardcover]

Derek Humphry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1991

The phenomenal #1 New York Times bestseller that has the world talking--a practical guide for the terminally ill to dying with dignity through assisted suicide. Finally available in paperback, this considerate book is for mature adults who are considering the option of ending their lives because of unbearable pain or terminal illness.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Controversy should erupt anew when Humphry's suicide manual for the terminally ill, newly revised and expanded, tries to match in paper the successes that it enjoyed in cloth, including 18 weeks on PW's bestseller list.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

“Until there is a law which would allow physicians to help people who want a Final Exit, here is Derek Humphry’s book, fittingly named, to guide them.”
--Betty Rollin, author of First, You Cry and Last Wish

“An honest, clear, compelling book.”
--Dr. Frederick R. Abrams, physician and ethicist --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Hemlock Society; 1 edition (March 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0960603034
• ISBN-13: 978-0960603039
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #388,707 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Derek Humphry was born in Bath, England, 04.29.1930 and brought up in a broken family. Despite a poor education, further damaged by six years of war, Derek determined to become a writer. Starting as a newspaper messenger boy on the Yorkshire Post at 15, he worked his way up as a reporter on the Bristol Evening World, the Manchester Evening News to the London Daily Mail, the London Sunday Times and finally the Los Angeles Times.

Always an advocacy journalist, Derek wrote books on race relations, police corruption and a biography of Michael X. For 'Because They're Black' he won the Martin Luther King Memorial Prize.

When the wife to whom he had been married for 22 years developed inoperable cancer, he nursed her for two years until she asked him to help her die. Close to the end, Jean chose to end her life with lethal drugs to avoid further suffering. In time, he married again and moved to America.

Derek published in l978 a little book Jean's Way describing Jean's final years and his part in helping her to die peacefully. It became a bestseller and was translated into major languages.

The public response to the book caused him to start the Hemlock Society USA in 1980 from his garage in Santa Monica. Hemlock's purpose was to help people in similar situations as Jean's and also to reform the laws to permit physician-assisted suicide.

Derek built Hemlock into a national organization, with 40,000 members and 80 chapters. In l991 he wrote 'Final Exit' - a 'how-to' book for the dying to bring their suffering to an end if they chose. To much surprise, it became a #1 bestseller within six months. It was translated into 12 languages. Random House keeps the 3rd edition of 'Final Exit' in print in 2010, and it is still in print in Spanish and Italian. USA TODAY in 2007 chose it as one of the most significant books of the past 25 years.

His latest book is a memoir --'Good Life, Good Death' -- covering 79 years of an eventful life -- ranging from an unusual childhood in a broken home, a father in prison, a mother who ran away to Australia, then experiencing an ugly war which started when he was nine. The book relates his remarkable experiences in journalism, outstanding interviews with famous people, and his struggle against racism. Derek immigrated to the USA at age 48.

The second half of the memoir deals with his impact on the right to die movement in America, starting and building the Hemlock Society for 12 years, and pioneering the Oregon Death With Dignity Act (l994), the first such physician-assisted suicide law in North America.

Proud to be a paperback writer, Derek has published 15 books in 40 years. Only two have been hardbacks.

Derek is president of the Euthanasia Research & Guidance Organization (ERGO), chairman of the advisory board of the Final Exit Network (successor to the now defunct Hemlock Society), and an advisor to the World Federation of Right to Die Societies, of which he has been president.

Although unlettered himself, Derek has been a guest lecturer at Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, USC, UCLA, University of Michigan, University of Chicago, and others.

In his book "A Merciful End: The Euthanasia Movement in Modern America,' Ian Dowbiggin
writes: "Humphry ranks as one of the preeminent pioneers of the American euthanasia movement." (OUP. 2003. Page 149). In their book 'Dying Right', the authors Daniel Hillyard and John Dombrink write: "Derek Humphry is widely acknowledged to be the initiatior of the euthanasia reform movement in the United States." (Routledge NY 2001. Page 82.)

A citizen of the USA and UK, he lived in Los Angeles l978-88 and since then in western Oregon. He has been married to Gretchen (nee Crocker) since l991.
[Update: 22 March 2010]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

273 of 287 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Readers need to remember one thing:, April 16, 2001

By 

Betti Trapp - See all my reviews

This review is from: Final Exit (Second Edition): The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying (Paperback)

This is not a book telling you to commit suicide. So many people felt lives would not have been lost without this book. This is wrong. A suicidal person will always find a way. This is a book that is intended to help the terminally ill who need an easy passing. Try to imagine yourself, suffering, in unbearable agony, your own suffering making all of your loved ones hearts break a little daily, no end in sight, just the knowledge that if you sleep at all, when you wake, the agony will continue, not just for you but for everyone. Often, too often, doctors will limit and provide dosages of pain relief that are inadequate, because there are times when the pain is untouchable by modern drugs. Ask yourself: Will your loved ones suffer more after your death than they are now? THAT, dear readers, is what this book means. It offers a glimmer of light for the terminally ill. That is all. It does not in any way intend itself for depressed people, but depressed people will buy it, and read it, and perhaps follow it to the end. They suffer too, their pain is as real as the physical pain of a terminally ill patient, do not expect the book ever to be banned to depressed or mentally ill patients only. I respect any terminally ill patient's decision to use the guidelines in this book to assist in an end that will allow them to finally erase the agony, the physical torture, the lives wreaked with havoc and pain because of their illnesses. Those of you who do not understand Derek Humphrey's motive should read this book again. Those of you who do not understand your relative or loved one's decision to act on the guidelines in this book need to make peace with yourselves, and put the blame where it really belongs, nowhere.

285 of 304 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clear, simple, but very limited information., September 2, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Final Exit (Second Edition): The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying (Paperback)

"Final Exit" has strengths and weaknesses as a how-to book (this is not a review of its philosophy). The writing is clear, simple, and compassionate. However, its useful information is limited to drug overdose and plastic bag asphyxia. A much more wide rangeing, thorough, and interesting book on the same subject is Geo Stone's "Suicide and Attempted Suicide: Methods and Consequences." I would suggest reading both of them.

114 of 120 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book that Respects People's Choices About Dying, April 24, 2004

By 

Stephen Pletko "Uncle Stevie" (London, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Final Exit: The Practicalities of Self-Deliverance and Assisted Suicide for the Dying, 3rd Edition (Paperback)

+++++

After I read this book (first edition published in 1991) by Derek Humphry, I read some reviews of it on this site as well as on other sites. In many cases, I wondered whether a particular reviewer read the same book as I did! There seems to be some confusion as to the purpose of this book.

I think the confusion stems from a lack of understanding of two terms. "Suicide" is deliberately ending one's life. It is usually an irrational act. (For the record, I don't believe in irrational suicide.) "Self-Deliverance" is the action of an irreversible ill person (such as a person who is hopelessly ill or is terminally ill) who makes a rational, voluntary decision to end his/her own life.

The second of these two definitions is what this book is about. In the author's own words: "Please respect the true intensions of [this book]: the right of a terminally ill person with unbearable suffering to know how to choose to die."

Thus, this book is not for the depressed, mentally ill, or suicidal. The author elaborates: "I ask people with suicidal thoughts to share them with family or friends and if this does not help, to call one of the hot lines or help lines listed in their local telephone books."

There is an argument that the above three types of people might use the information in this book for their own early demise (despite the book's warnings) and therefore it should not have been published. But this is like saying tall buildings (or cars or bridges or etc.) should not be built because those with the intension of suicide might use them for an early demise. The fact is a suicidal person will always find a way.

Also, this book is not for the religious. The author, again, elaborates: "If the reader of this book is deeply religious, and takes all guidance from a divinity, then there is no point in reading [this book]. [As well], all I [the author] ask of persons to whom any form of euthanasia [or assisted dying] is morally repugnant is tolerance and understanding of the feelings of others who want the right to choose what happens to their [dying] bodies in a free society." Thus, "this book assumes the reader's ethical acceptance of the right to choose to die when terminally ill and [so] the arguments for and against are not addressed."

This 27-chapter book covers all the practicalities involved in self-deliverance. From the importance of certain documents, to the law, to consideration of others, to the pros and cons of various methods (including certain drugs), you'll find this book a compassionate and sensitive guide. It contains clear instructions for supportive doctors and families so they can keep a person's dying intimate, private, and dignified.

This book has four appendices. I think most people will find Appendix A: "Glossary of Terms Connected with Dying" most informative.

Finally, this is an excellent book for those (like me) who are interested in knowing more about this neglected subject. The obvious fact is that we all die sooner or later. Knowing some of the information in this book will help the reader understand and not deny that death exists. As well, I learned about rights. Some people want to endure every last minute of life no matter how painfully gloomy and that is certainly their right. (In fact, there is a chapter in this book entitled "The Hospice Option.") However, others do not want to endure pain and suffering and I think that should be their right.

In conclusion, this book should not to be read by the depressed, suicidal, mentally ill, or the strictly religious. For all other readers, it can be used as a practical guide or as an educational text to understand death and basic human rights.

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