So Sorry for Your Loss: How I Learned to Live with Grief, and Other Grave Concerns

by Dina Gachman

Overview

A searching, heartfelt exploration about what it means to process grief, by a bestselling author and journalist whose experience with two devastating losses inspired her to bring comfort and understanding to others.

Since losing her mother to cancer in 2018 and her sister to alcoholism less than three years later, author and journalist Dina Gachman has dedicated herself to understanding what it means to grieve, healing after loss, and the ways we stay connected to those we miss. Through a mix of personal storytelling, reporting, and insight from experts and even moments of humor, Gachman gives readers a fresh take on grief and bereavement—whether the loss is a family member, beloved pet, or a romantic relationship. No one wants to join the grief club, since membership comes with zero perks, but So Sorry for Your Loss will make that initiation just a little less painful.

In the spirit of Elizabeth Kubler Ross books like On Grief and Grieving, or C.S. Lewis’s A Grief Observed, So Sorry for Your Loss is the perfect gift for someone who is grieving. With her blend of personal experiences, expert advice, and just a little bit of humor, Gachman has provided a compassionate and compelling resource for anyone looking for grief books.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454947608
Publisher:	Union Square & Co.
Publication date:	04/11/2023
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	158,574
Product dimensions:	8.20(w) x 5.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Dina Gachman is an award-winning journalist, Pulitzer Center Grantee, and a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Vox, Texas Monthly and more. She’s a New York Times bestselling ghostwriter, and the author of Brokenomics: 50 Ways to Live the Dream on a Dime. She lives near Austin, Texas, with her husband and son.

Editorial Reviews

01/30/2023

Journalist Gachman (Brokenomics) delivers a poignant, personal exploration of grief. After the author lost her mother to cancer and her sister to alcoholism in the span of two years, she was forced to acknowledge that “grief would become part of me, instead of something I had to conquer.” Gachman gets up-close to the emotional vagaries of loss, recounting how, after her mother’s death, she’d find herself crying during a Geico commercial one moment, and emotionally numb the next. Both reactions are normal, she writes, as “grief, like life, doesn’t always have to make sense.” Elsewhere, she discusses how finding reminders of the dead in one’s daily life can “keep the love we felt and feel” alive, considers the value (and limitations) of seeking psychological help, and lays out small ways to help others in mourning. Gachman perceptively puts words to the uncomfortable realities of loss—“Death was not glorious and wondrous... it was a blunt object, lurking in the corner”—and deconstructs its social myths, helping readers feel less alone. Those facing loss will find solace here. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

Journalist Gachman (Brokenomics) delivers a poignant, personal exploration of grief…Gachman perceptively puts words to the uncomfortable realities of loss…and deconstructs its social myths, helping readers feel less alone. Those facing loss will find solace here.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Poignantly honest and often morbidly amusing…Gachman’s book delivers an offbeat offering of comfort, laughter, and peace by sharing how she is living with grief.”
—Library Journal

“So Sorry for Your Loss”: How I Learned to Live with Grief, and Other Grave Concerns unpacks the author’s personal journey, but it’s also a sort of balm for those who are going through hardships of their own as well as a guide for those aiming to comfort someone else.”
—Southern Living

“Her book weaves personal memories with reported tidbits from experts in the field such as counselors, psychologists, and a death doula, with plenty of humor sprinkled throughout to remind readers it’s okay to laugh even in our darkest moments.”
—Garden & Gun

“So Sorry for Your Loss is a monument to the work of remembering and a testament to the immutable love of family and the grief that forever changes us. Dina Gachman writes with compassion and honesty, at once heartbreakingly human and mordantly funny. Suffused with tender emotion and unsparing reflection on what it means to lose, how we grieve, and how we survive that grief, So Sorry for Your Loss is a deeply moving book that will never leave you.” 
—Lauren Hough, New York Times bestselling author of Leaving Isn’t the Hardest Thing 

“So Sorry for Your Loss is a powerful and indispensable book that is unlike any book on grief that I’ve previously found. Gachman shares her own moving story while offering advice that is both clear and forgiving. The world is full of books that tell you what not to say to someone grieving; I love that Gachman stresses that (with only a few exceptions) anything is better than silence. This is a book suffused with humor and grace, and one that I will keep close at hand to help guide me when I need to comfort others—and myself." 
—Will Schwalbe, New York Times bestselling author of The End of Your Life Book Club

“Dina Gachman’s So Sorry for Your Loss is a collection of essays that masterfully explores grief in all its sacred intricacies. It is vulnerable and generous, and while anyone who has experienced grief knows nothing can alleviate its sting, it does offer us a valuable comfort: that you are not alone.” 
—Marisa Renee Lee, author of Grief Is Love

“A luminous collection examining collective and individual grief. In her moving essays, Gachman takes readers on a wide and careful journey, one that made me feel less alone, and thankful for her deep empathy and intelligence.” 
—Amanda Eyre Ward, New York Times bestselling author of The Jetsetters and The Lifeguards
 
“Dina gives us a glimpse into the complicated emotions, logistics, and emptiness that happen with the death of a loved one. Luckily for us, she is also adept at finding humor where you least expect it to be found, which serves to make her book even more well-rounded and universal. This is a book to be savored.”
—Wendi Aarons, author of I’m Wearing Tunics Now 
 
“Dina Gachman writes about grief with humor, sensitivity, and loving compassion. Using her own experience as a jumping-off point, she employs her reporting skills to interview several other sources about their professional and personal views on loss. This is a beautiful chance for anyone to deepen their own understanding of what it means to be human.” 
—Sara Benincasa, author of Agorafabulous! and Real Artists Have Day Jobs
 
“Candid, illuminating, and necessarily playful, Dina Gachman’s So Sorry for Your Loss balances the author’s grief over the loss of her mother and sister with smart reflections, while lacing insights from experts throughout. Gachman not only welcomes readers into her own loss journey, but offers meaningful recognition, genuine solace, valuable resources, and even comfort recipes. So Sorry for Your Loss is a meditation on loss that reminds us how to go on living.”
—Deirdre Fagan, author of Find a Place for Me and The Grief Eaters

From the Publisher