Design for Dying (Paperback)

~ (Author), R. U. Sirius (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Timothy Leary, high priest of psychedelia and former Harvard psychologist, spent decades enthusiastically investigating the meaning of life with the boundary-breaking, consciousness-expanding assistance of hallucinogenic drugs. It seems only natural that when "Mademoiselle Cancer moved in to share [his] body," he seized the opportunity to examine the nature of death ... and throw a big party. He didn't, as threatened, commit suicide on the Net or have his head cut off and frozen, but instead surrounded himself with good friends at an extended wake in his Beverly Hills home, where he drifted peacefully away.

In Design for Dying, his newly released book, Leary shows people how to die happily and well. "There are common-sense, easy-to-understand options for dealing planfully, playfully, compassionately, and elegantly with the inevitable final scene," he states. "Face it. At this point in human history, we're all terminal. It behooves us to focus some time and energy and courage on regaining personal and group autonomy over the dying process.... Talking about death is the last taboo in our society. And as we've learned, the way to overcome taboo is pretty straightforward. As the man says, 'Just Do It!'" The book includes contributions from R. U. Sirius of cyberculture magazine Mondo 2000; a guide to death and dying resources, online tools, and further reading lists; and an addendum of "Timothy Leary's Dying Performance as Remembered by His Friends." Timothy Leary vowed to "give death a better name or die trying," and Design for Dying attempts to do just that. Irreverent, original, and funny as ever, Timothy Leary urges us to face death with courage and joy, if not with laughing gas and a lava lamp. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Leary, who last year succumbed to "a healthy, robust, spectacularly ambitious cancerous tumor," has left a work more irreverent, outrageous but possibly more valuable than his role as LSD icon. This posthumously published book examines the process of death and dying in a way you've never read before. Leary argues against the stigma placed on "deanimation" (as he calls death) and blames Judeo-Christian tradition for mourning the dead ("a massive bummer"), the zealousness of modern medicine in prolonging agony, and the indignity of interment ("wormfood"). Although he can be maddeningly flippant in his sometimes original discussions, Leary looks forward to "the ultimate trip" with impish glee and malice toward God and government. Despite the strenuously unconventional arguments he presents here for retaining "personal autonomy" in dying, Leary ironically did not "deanimate live on the Internet" in the "mother of all parties" before his "cryogenic freezing." In an illuminating addendum, Leary's family and friends recall his struggle to maintain the "gonzo" facade in his final months. His courage in discussing the dying process helps dignify a work more infotainment than enlightenment. An optional purchase for libraries.?Ben O'Sickey, Library Journal
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 252 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (May 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060928662
• ISBN-13: 978-0060928667
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,016,334 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A stunning, at times flabbergasting, view of mortality., October 17, 1998

By	Dr. Don Elwell([e-mail]) (Murphysboro, Illinois, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Design for Dying (Hardcover)

"Design for Dying" is a brilliant, brilliant last work of a mind that spent most of it's adult life probing the ultimate questions of mortality, immortality, and exactly what it is we mean by "self". Dr. Leary brings his considerable intellect into a final, often stunning focus on the self-organization of information, and on what of that information makes up our perception of who and what we are, all cloaked in his own pixie-like humor. Occasionally adding his own insights and humorous barbs, R U Sirius has done an admirable job in bringing together Timothy Leary's final notes into a wonderful, readable whole.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an extraordinary book!, May 20, 2001

By	M. Harwood "UBIK" (Australia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

One of the few books Ive encountered that I can truly describe as life changing.Throghout his life Dr Leary was the ultimate individual, freethinker, and rebel, and the lives of the people he touched are no doubt much better off for his inspiration.As evidenced in this book, his boundless energy and enthusiasm never waned, even in the face of unimaginable suffering in the grip of a crippling terminal illness.In my humble opinion Learys final months(and probably his entire life)epitomized the primary concepts laid down by Viktor Frankl with his formulation of existential psychology, nothing in life has any meaning other than the meaning we attach to it, including death.As far as Im concerned the good doctor succeeded in his attempt to "give death a better name, or die trying".5 stars, highly reccomended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Design Your Dying and Death -Throw a Party!, March 25, 2000

By	rareoopdvds (San Diego, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Design for Dying (Paperback)

Timothy Leary's final media jump into the unknown world of death and technology. Famed LSD Guru, former Harvard Professor and author of some 20 books, Dr. Timothy Leary attempts to marry technology with the dying process. Before doing this, he gives a brief history of his life, the trials and tribulations. Once he discovers his own diagnosis of prostate cancer he then takes the step to make death a public and cultural issue. Attempting to have his brain frozen, or consider nanotechnology to "fix" himself, or perhaps have his ashes flown into space. Leary's job in this book to make the reader aware of the many ways one can die with dignity. I enjoyed this book because its the one book that Leary wrote with the most accessiblity and clearity unlike his other chaos works. The book also has an addendum from all his friends. Certainly Timothy Leary fans will cherish this book, as well as those interested in the process of death.