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These classic and contemporary essays explore the broad range of structural and social contexts of death. They cover issues including the psychology, sociology and ethics of death and dying.

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Shneidman presents basic ideas of the common characteristics of suicide. He offers a fresh definition of the phenomenon, which includes direct implications for preventive action.

"...Writing...stimulated by series of incidents...several hundred suicide notes...filed away...in the vaults of the coroner's office in Los Angeles; a young woman at a symposium...[later sent] tapes describing her life and her immolation; a diary of a thirty-year old doctor who died of leukemia; pamphlets obtained from Auschwitz written by camp victims...[author's] goals: to share with the reader what I know about death and death documents and the theories I have developed about the psychology of suicide, terminal illness and execution; and, at other times, to stand back out of the way so that the reader may have direct contact with the documents themselves; and finally, to show how the different kinds of life-threatening situations are similar to each other and how each is separate to itself..."--preface.

In this biography, the author depicts the delicate balance between Melville's life and his creativity and examines the impact of family members upon Melville's artistic experience. The author examines Melville's family bonds--the weak father, the dominant mother, and the favored older brother--and the dramatic impact of his father's death (bankrupt and mad) when Melville was only 12. This biography records the painful drama of Melville's search for a replacement of the father which fictionally took the mythic form of Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Ishmael.

Currently in the Western world, suicide is a conscious act of self-induced annihilation, best understood as a multidimensional malaise in a needful individual who defines an issue for which suicide is perceived as the best solution. To understand this self-induced annihilation, one should also understand violence. Part II presents four chapters: an explication of violence and its legacy, the role of trauma and violence in subsequent suicidal behavior, homicide with specific reference to elderly Anglo females, and terrorism and hostage taking. The very person who takes his/her life may be least aware of the psychological reasons for doing so. Part III consists of a study of unconscious processes in suicide, and an explication of the confusions of the body, self, and others in suicidal states.