Stay: A History of Suicide and the Arguments Against It

A leading public critic reminds us of the compelling reasons people throughout time have found to stay alive

Worldwide, more people die by suicide than by murder, and many more are left behind to grieve. Despite distressing statistics that show suicide rates rising, the subject, long a taboo, is infrequently talked about. In this sweeping intellectual and cultural history, poet and historian Jennifer Michael Hecht channels her grief for two friends lost to suicide into a search for history’...