Hereafter : Searching for Immortality [Paperback]

Richard Schweid (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2006

As long as people have been on earth, they have constructed various explanations of what happens after death. Hereafter combines an overview of the history of these theories and a survey of the current attitudes toward immortality. Other than physical form and genetic structure, we hold little in common with our earliest ancestors in terms of how we live, but one thing we do share is fear and helplessness in the face of the fact that this self, which takes so much effort to construct and inhabit and nurture, is likely to last considerably less than a century. Responses to the prospect of dying can be organized into three main categories: those who believe that somehow we shall be resurrected to pass eternity with intact bodies as the same people we were during our earthly sojourns; those who believe that what survives is a "soul", or essence, which leaves behind forever the dead and decomposing receptacle in which it resided to move on in some fashion; and those who believe that death erases our lives entirely. Schweid augments his research with interviews with Yale Divinity School theologians, biotechnologists, farmers, garbage collectors, bail bondsmen, preachers, rabbis, imams and soldiers.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Richard Schweid was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and now lives in Barcelona, Spain, where he is senior editor of the magazine Barcelona Metropolitan. His books include Che's Chevrolet: Fidel's Oldsmobile: On the Road in Cuba; Consider the Eel (winner, best sci-tech book of 2002, Library Journal); Catfish and the Delta: Confederate Fish Farming in the Mississippi Delta; Hot Peppers: The Story of Cajuns and Capsicum; and The Cockroach Papers: A Compendium of History and Lore.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560256575
• ISBN-13: 978-1560256571
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 4.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,096,108 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Richard Schweid looks at the Afterlife, July 18, 2006

By 

Christopher Ryan "Co-author: Sex at Dawn: The... (Barcelona, Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hereafter : Searching for Immortality (Paperback)

Question: What do the following have in common?
- Chili peppers
- Eels
- Classic American cars in Cuba
- Cockroaches
- Spanish transvestites
- Catfish in the Mississippi Delta
- Immortality

Answer: Absolutely nothing -- other than the fact that Richard Schweid has found inspiration for a great book in each of them.

Richard Schweid has a uniquely charming way of telling a story. I've been a fan since reading his book on chili peppers years ago. As you read his work, you feel his presence there with you, but he never overpowers the voices of the people he's introducing you to or the essence of the tale he's telling. All of his books mix first-class reporting with serious scholarship and a fluid, witty writing style -- not to mention the sort of unique intelligence that leads a person to write about such diverse topics in the first place.

With Hereafter, he's managed to tell a story that is as universal as they come and yet still somehow deeply personal. He takes us along as he travels from Appalachia to the Ganges in search of answers to the Big Question: What comes next?

Without giving anything away, I can say that Mr. Schweid suffered an important loss while writing this book, and he manages to integrate his experience into the text in a way I've never seen before, but that I found profoundly moving. There can be no doubt that this is a man who writes from the heart.

Hereafter is a wonderful read: erudite, amusing, intimate, surprising and above all, very well-written throughout.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected, March 25, 2011

By 

Ronald Sheets (Metamora, Il.) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hereafter : Searching for Immortality (Kindle Edition)

I had thought this was the book version of the Matt Damon movie by the same name, but no, it was totally serious, a good reference, but a bit morbid for my tastes.