The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying [Hardcover]

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1997 | ISBN-10: 0788163140 | ISBN-13: 978-0788163142

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, M.D., is the woman who has transformed the way the world thinks about death and dying. Beginning with the groundbreaking publication of the classic psychological study On Death and Dying, through her many books and her years working with terminally ill children, AIDS patients and the elderly, Kubler-Ross has brought comfort and understanding to millions coping with their own deaths or the deaths of loved ones. Now, facing her own death at age seventy-one, this world-renowned healer tells the story of her life and explores her ultimate truth - death does not exist. Written frankly and with warmth, Kubler-Ross's memoir traces the intellectual and spiritual development of a destiny. "If I am opinionated and independent, " she writes, "if I am stuck in my ways, if I am a little off center, so what? That is me." Her trademark conviction, one that has taken on dogma, prejudice and skepticism, was present as a girl in Switzerland, where the young Elisabeth observed the injustices of the world and vowed to change them. From her work in war-ravaged Poland to her pioneering counseling of the terminally ill, to her legendary seminars on death and dying at the University of Chicago, to her eye-opening discussions with those who had been revived after death, each experience provided Kubler-Ross with a piece of the puzzle. In a culture determined to sweep death under a carpet and hide it there, Kubler-Ross consistently defied common wisdom to bring it into the light and hold it there for us to see and not be afraid. Driven by compassion, undeterred by obstacles, she shows the reader through the story of her remarkable life that free will is our greatest gift and that our goal is spiritual evolution.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Psychiatrist and author of On Death and Dying Elisabeth Kübler-Ross has long been considered an expert on the terminally ill, and she is credited with bringing the hospice movement to the United States. Now retired after a series of strokes, and, at 70, facing her own death, she has written The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying, a highly personal memoir. Besides telling her unusual life's story, this book is also a startling treatise on death. Recounting her research with the dying and with those who claim to have "returned" after dying, Dr. Kübler-Ross also writes eloquently about her belief in the afterlife. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Kubler-Ross's landmark On Death and Dying (LJ 7/69) influenced much of today's work with the terminally ill. Now in her 70s and facing her own death, the renowned psychiatrist recounts here the story of a life spent not only endeavoring to understand dying but also "explaining that death does not exist." Against her father's wishes, the Swiss-born author went to medical school and studied psychiatry in New York after marrying an American physician. Drawn to end-of-life counseling, Kubler-Ross developed her techniques into professional workshops, the basis for her earliest and most influential books. Falling in with a channeler of dubious background, Kubler-Ross claims to have undergone out-of-body experiences, meetings with spirit guides, and visions of fairies. Unfortunately, this book is a puzzling combination of hastily sketched reminiscence and the worst of New Age ramblings, providing little insight into the author's character. A disappointment.
-?Karen McNally Bensing, Benjamin Rose Inst. Lib., Cleveland
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 286 pages
• Publisher: Diane Pub Co (May 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0788163140
• ISBN-13: 978-0788163142
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,576,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Typical Kubler-Ross courage is between every line., September 13, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying (Paperback)

I first saw and heard Elisabeth Kubler-Ross on public tv in the mid 70's; I was fascinated with her and with her work from that first introduction. This writing of her life was a must read for me personally and I was engrossed from cover to cover. Though I was a little surprised to read about her involvement with channelers (something I personally can't accept), her writing about it as part of her own life was not a turnoff to me. She has a very good point, as she says many times in her book, that we should be open to all things and not rule out happenings as being within the realm of possibility. When EKR speaks or writes about death and dying the listener/reader does not feel great sadness. She was granted the gift of passing on to others an understanding of death as a natural and very important part of living, to be dealt with with dignity and compassion. With this book, as with everything I've ever read or heard by her, EKR has helped me to understand just a little more about how to live life to the fullest. This world is better by far for having been influenced by her wisdom.

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Full Life And A Great Read, December 7, 2001

By 

Ian Lawrence Daoust (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying (Paperback)

This is a wonderful book. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross has done the world a tremendous service by helping to humanize death and the process of dying, and in this autobiography she tells of all the surprises and inevitabilities that marked her own growth, and the growth of her work. Somewhere along the line, however, a few years back, Kubler-Ross adopted the role of an amateur prophet, and some of her later works deliver a confusing, inconsistent, and often strident set of contradictory neo-Jungian messages about matters spiritual. Those who think she lost her marbles will find plenty of evidence here as elsewhere to support their views. But this book is actually a whole lot more accessible, and far less preachy, than some of her other books have been. I think one would be unwise to ignore the complications entailed by Kubler-Ross's many spiritual injunctions, but one would be uncharitable to also dismiss the tremendous good that has come out of her life's work. I don't find in this book the accepting, non-ideological compassion of Stephen Levine, nor the unassuming experimental spirit of Raymond Moody, but Kubler-Ross remains incomparable as the initiating spokesperson for a humane death. Her tale is extraordinary, and this book is an exceptional, welcome, and one-of-a-kind read.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An honest Memoir, March 11, 2006

By 

Mycroft (Rio Linda, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying (Paperback)

Those who grouse & are dismayed at the second half of the book perhaps have not traveled far enough on their own spiritual journeys yet to understand. I found the book, like all her works, thoughtful, insightful & honest. Having worked in hospice nearly 30 yrs, in part due to Dr. Kubler-Ross, I can honestly say that in hospice you see many things that are beyond the scope of everyday life. The more I see of human Spirituality in hospice paitents & their families the less judgmental I tend to be.