Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife: On the Other Side Known Commonly As "The Little Book" [Paperback]

Daniel Quinn (Author), Tom Whalen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 1998

The guide of choice for anyone who plans to die someday--are YOU ready for the AFTERLIFE?

To find out, take this simple quiz:

1.  Like Earth, the Afterlife has celebrities, outcasts, deadheads, losers, and busybodies.  

True
False


2.  Is there an Afterlife after the Afterlife?

Yes
No


3.  When you first arrive on "the Other Side," you will be given:

a) a set of wings
b) a toaster
c) a copy of A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife


Don't worry if you're not sure how to respond. A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife has answers to these questions and more--and if you're lucky, some of them may turn out to be right!

An irreverent, one-of-a-kind compendium from the award-winning author of Ishmael, A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife can be read as a parable, an allegory, a work of fiction--or exactly what it claims to be: a helpful handbook for the recently deceased.  It is filled with uncommon wisdom, bizarre imaginings, uncanny perceptions, and unexpected humor.  Is it fantastic escapism or a seminal event in human history? Read it and find out....

Face it.  The Afterlife is the ultimate test.  You might as well study.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

In Quinn's best-selling, quasi-environmental novel Ishmael, a man and an ape engage in a Socratic dialog. Here, a voice from beyond tells of a legendary book that contains answers to life's most vexing questions.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

"A who's who, where to go, and what to expect guide to the next world."
--The Times-Picayune, New Orleans

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (November 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553379798
• ISBN-13: 978-0553379792
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.3 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #248,904 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Seriously Its not meant to be taken Seriously very Seriously, December 31, 2001

By 

Neil Haner (Yucaipa, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife: On the Other Side Known Commonly As "The Little Book" (Paperback)

I don't understand some the below reviewers atitudes about this book. Yes, parts of book don't make a lot of sense, but I see that as the authors attempt to get us to look at our belief systems, when glanced at in the same way- are'nt they just as absurd? I think some people including me, came on this book thinking it was going to be another Ishamael- "a book to change the world and give people answers." Rather, it is a book to change your thinking. One thing I got from it was this- the answers to the questions you have gotten in this life, are, like the answers you get in this book, subjective because no one really knows! There are gems of wisdom to be gained from reading this book, I could go on...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Weird and Wondrous Book!, April 20, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: A Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife (Hardcover)

A diabolically wild collaboration between Daniel ( "Ishmael") Quinn and one of my favorite science fiction authors Tom ("Roithamer's Universe") Whalen. I've never ever seen a book like this one. It's a compendium of the Afterlife, but an Afterlife unlike any I have read about before. There are "do's and don't's," concerns concerning Zeno's paradoxes and particle physics, and even summaries of books written in the Afterlife by Asimov, Nabokov, Trakl, Arthur Godfrey, Lucy Terry (the first African- American poet), and Nikola Tesla. Also, check out the great photo-collages by Greg Boyd (of Asylum Press fame). A weird and wondrous book. How in the world did the authors trick Bantam into publishing such a delight!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars read it with an open mind,don't forget knowlege is power, April 1, 2000

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Newcomer's Guide to the Afterlife: On the Other Side Known Commonly As "The Little Book" (Paperback)

I found this book in the middle of other very large beautiful books. I picked it up, read the title and laughed. However I couldn't let my judgmental opinions get in the way of seeing ALL SIDES. If you are very much into paraphsycology, you will understand this book from page one to the ending, however if you are not a very spiritual person, take it with a grain of salt. Use it for you own knowlege, in other words use it as "JUST IN CASE"