In My Time of Dying, Sebastian Junger
In My Time of Dying, Sebastian Junger
3 Rating(s)
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In My Time of Dying
How I Came Face to Face With the Idea of an Afterlife

Bestseller

Author: Sebastian Junger

Narrator: Sebastian Junger

Unabridged: 4 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/21/2024


Synopsis

A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

A near-fatal health emergency leads to this powerful reflection on death—and what might follow—by the bestselling author of Tribe and The Perfect Storm.

For years as an award-winning war reporter, Sebastian Junger traveled to many front lines and frequently put his life at risk. And yet the closest he ever came to death was the summer of 2020 while spending a quiet afternoon at the New England home he shared with his wife and two young children. Crippled by abdominal pain, Junger was rushed to the hospital by ambulance. Once there, he began slipping away. As blackness encroached, he was visited by his dead father, inviting Junger to join him. “It’s okay,” his father said. “There’s nothing to be scared of. I’ll take care of you.” That was the last thing Junger remembered until he came to the next day when he was told he had suffered a ruptured aneurysm that he should not have survived.

This experience spurred Junger—a confirmed atheist raised by his physicist father to respect the empirical—to undertake a scientific, philosophical, and deeply personal examination of mortality and what happens after we die. How do we begin to process the brutal fact that any of us might perish unexpectedly on what begins as an ordinary day? How do we grapple with phenomena that science may be unable to explain? And what happens to a person, emotionally and spiritually, when forced to reckon with such existential questions?

In My Time of Dying is part medical drama, part searing autobiography, and part rational inquiry into the ultimate unknowable mystery.

About Sebastian Junger

Sebastian Junger is the New York Times bestselling author of TribeWar, Freedom, A Death in Belmont, Fire, and The Perfect Storm, and codirector of the documentary film Restrepo, which was nominated for an Academy Award. He is also the winner of a Peabody Award and the National Magazine Award for Reporting.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Danila on July 10, 2024

This book is a journey through a range of emotions, from fear and confusion to awe and hope. It is a mix of engagement and discovery that can be challenging at points, but ultimately it will lift you up. Junger's soothing, steady tone gives you a companion in thinking about the big existential and a......more

Goodreads review by Krista on February 03, 2024

Everything alive has some kind of flux and ebb, and when that stops, life stops. When people say life is precious, they are saying that the rhythmic force that runs through all things — your wrist, your children’s wrists, God’s entire green earth — is precious. For my whole life, my pulse ran thr......more

Goodreads review by Joey on November 12, 2024

2.0 stars —I read “The Perfect Storm” many years ago and found Sebastian Junger to be an excellent writer and storyteller. I have not read any books by him since then but thought “In My Time of Dying, How I Came Face to Face With The Idea of an Afterlife” would be an interesting read due to my inter......more

Goodreads review by fourtriplezed on July 27, 2024

I am an admirer of both Junger’s War and Tribe so the chances to listen to him narrate his latest book was taken. In My Time of Dying is his story about his near-death experience (NDE) after a pancreatic vein burst that caused major internal bleeding. He gives a detailed medical account of the actio......more

Goodreads review by Emma on June 12, 2024

Oh that ending snuck up on me. I wish there’d been a more conclusive theory as put forth by the author but I guess his theory is the same as most people: we just don’t know. But this book offers scientific comfort where others offer spiritual relief and I appreciate both.......more


Quotes

"Junger’s storytelling is notable for its evocative imagery and the visceral authenticity of his lyrical writing. The author’s fully present performance, along with his handsome vocal tone and amiable phrasing, makes his narration a perfect vehicle for this kind of memoir, a satisfying way to hear how Junger’s crisis changed his views on life and what’s beyond it. This and his palpable wonder and vulnerability make this an absorbing and possibly life-changing audiobook."