The Dark Eclipse: Reflections on Suicide and Absence

The Dark Eclipse: Reflections on Suicide and Absence is a book of personal essays in which author Andrew Barnes seeks to come to terms with the suicide of his older brother, Mike. Using source documentation—the police report, autopsy, suicide note, and death certificate—the essays explore Barnes’ relationship with Mike and their status as gay brothers raised in a large conservative family in the Midwest. In addition, the narrative traces the brothers’ difficult relationship with their fathe...