How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences

Sue William Silverman is a memoirist, poet, and teacher of writing at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She has published several books, including Because I Remember Terror, Father, I Remember You; Love Sick: One Woman’s Journey through Sexual Addiction; The Pat Boone Fan Club: My Life as a White Anglo-Saxon Jew (Nebraska, 2014); and Fearless Confessions: A Writer’s Guide to Memoir.

"Because of the distinctive subject matter and Silverman’s vast writing  talents, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences will appeal to new and experienced readers alike; notably, it will also draw teachers of creative writing, who will cherish it for the many essays that can be taught as models of braided and segmented forms."-Jody Keisner, Hippocampus Magazine "Honoring subconscious logic, How to Survive Death and Other Inconveniences makes the gambit that the mysteries of the self are both keys to understanding and uncertainties to be celebrated. We become who we are without being fully conscious of our choices-probing those choices won’t give us easy answers, but the discoveries along the way will be illuminating and well worth the necessary befuddlements."-Elizabeth Kadetsky, Literary Hub "What do we do with those memories that carry with them the ability to sink us? According to Silverman, in order to survive and grow, we have to collect them, transform them, and let them transform us."-Chanel Dubofsky, Lilith "Silverman undertakes the questions some of us are too afraid to ask, and we find ourselves rooting for her, flying down Route 17, because in doing so we are also rooting for ourselves."-Rachel Rueckert, Columbia Journal “A joyously unconventional memoir written at least in part as a hedge against mortality. It will shake loose memories, invite you to ponder, and, maybe best of all, make you laugh. This is a marvelously written, imaginative, and seriously funny book.”-Abigail Thomas, New York Times best-selling author of What Comes Next and How to Like It “With true originality and wit, Silverman takes readers on a wild ride through time, memory, pleasure, and trauma. What remains is a deeply human portrait of one woman’s resilience and the power of her spirit. I couldn’t put it down.”-Christina Haag, New York Times best-selling author of Come to the Edge: A Love Story “Though a book about death should be morbid and depressing, Silverman takes an unusual approach, packing both humor and wit into more than a dozen entertaining essays that may offer comfort to those dealing with death anxiety.”-Bitch Media“The book’s title may suggest this is a morbid book; yet, Silverman in her own clever way leans towards tongue-in-cheek, mixing pop culture, literature, and history with her stories and, of course, her unending quest to survive.”-Brevity: A Journal of Concise Literary Nonfiction

• Author’s Note    Ultima Thule    Fate 1Clothospins the thread of lifeThe Eternal Reign of Miss Route 17    13 Ways of Surviving New Jersey    Miss Route 17 Refuses to Grow Old    The Three Fates: How Much Is the Moon Worth?     The Remarkable Death-Defying Exploits of Miss Route 17    Until My Number Comes Up    Requiem for a Qwertyist    My Death in the Family    The Three Fates: Drawing the Shades    A Member of the Wedding    Fate 2Lachesismeasures the thread of life to determine how long you liveThe Sick Hypochondriac    The Three Fates: On Tedium    The Safe Side    My Life as a Thanatologist    The Janet Leigh Variations    The Summer of Hate and Death    Here Be Human Dragons    Miss Route 17’s Near-Death Experience under the Boardwalk at the New Jersey Shore    Sigilisms of Miss Route 17’s Many Hidden Talents    Death Comes for the Poet    Flirting with the Butcher    The Three Fates and the Barefoot Angels    Fate 3Atroposcuts the thread of life with a pair of shears to decide how someone diesAt the Terminal Gate    Miss Route 17’s Own Graceland    Memorabilia: My Guardian Devils and the Phantom of the Opera Gloves    The Three Fates: When You Go    Of Chrysanthemums, Tupperware, Cremated Remains, and FedEx-ing to the Great Beyond    Miss Route 17’s Blue Period    The Three Fates: Filling in the Blanks    On the Reliance of Verbs to Survive Death    The Queen of Panmnesia    Acknowledgments    Notes