Design for Dying

a very hopeful humanist tome that enlightens and entertains, showing us that confidence and illumination go hand-in-hand.Also serves as a loving tribute to the genius who inspired (and continues to inspire) many.Absolutely a humanist classic that should be read many times.

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.

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.

"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.