You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos

by Robert Arthur

Overview

A book that vigorously defends heroin users and sex workers? In You Will Die: The Burden of Modern Taboos Robert Arthur does that and more to demonstrate that taboos are not relics of primitive societies. America has its own ridiculous phobias and beliefs that cause tedium, suffering, and death. The government and the media use these taboos to lie and mislead. It is not a conspiracy, but by pushing panic for votes and viewers they thwart our pursuit of happiness.

You Will Die exposes the fallacies and the history behind our taboos on excrement, sex, drugs, and death. Arthur uses racy readability and rigorous documentation to raze sacred shrines of political correctness on the left and of conventional wisdom on the right. From the proper way to defecate to how to reach nirvana, anticipate the unexpected. It is not simply a novel exploration of sex and drugs, but also of individuality, liberty, and the meaning of life. You Will Die gives readers a new way of seeing their world and allows them to make a more informed choice about living an authentic life.


Winner of the 2008 Montaigne Medal awarded for most thought-provoking independent book.

“… ya gotta fight back against the Sarah Palin ‘idiot herd’ with something.”
Wayne Coyne, Lead Singer, The Flaming Lips

“… one of my favorite books …”
Mark Frauenfelder, Editor, Boing Boing

“This book is a MUST READ! I loved it.”
Dr. Mark Benn, Psychologist, Colorado State University

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936239467
Publisher:	Feral House
Publication date:	12/14/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	418
File size:	751 KB

Editorial Reviews

Directly inspired by Peter McWilliams terrific volume, Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do-his 1996 examination of hypocrisy and the erosion of personal liberties-Arthur offers a similarly-themed mash-up, commencing with less politically incendiary material (he begins with boogers) and over the course of the book working his way up to social mores and the drug war. That rather immature approach doesn't inspire much confidence at the outset, but as Arthur gains momentum, readers will find themselves increasingly engrossed. He unspools threads on centuries of papal sex scandals, rampant misinformation regarding the addictiveness of drugs, and consequences of sexual ignorance, identifying the common themes behind moral crusaders while outing famously pious philanderers like Henry Ford. Wild and inflammatory accusations abound, but Arthur backs up his observations, claims, and analyses with fistfuls of footnotes. Points such as the fact that most prostitutes are not drug addicts and that many actually enjoy their work, or the argument that the reason illegal drugs are so deadly is because they're illegal, won't sit well with those firmly entrenched in their beliefs, but Arthur's richly researched and readable treatise will give those open to other positions plenty to think about in this heavily annotated volume.
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Publishers Weekly

"As Arthur shows in this frequently fascinating survey of things left unsaid, the consequences of refusing to acknowledge basic realities of life go beyond silly censorship." -Reason Magazine

"Points such as the fact that most prostitutes are not drug addicts and that many actually enjoy their work, or the argument that the reason illegal drugs are so deadly is because they're illegal, won't sit well with those firmly entrenched in their beliefs, but Arthur's richly researched and readable treatise will give those open to other positions plenty to think about in this heavily annotated volume." -Publisher's Weekly

"Taboos negatively affect the latent assumptions on which Americans carry out their lives, and have transformed the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness into the pursuit of health, safety and the avoidance of death." -Alternet

"In a sense, You Will Die is two books in one; it is written in a pleasant, conversational style and presents fascinating, often obscure facts in such a way as to make it a great pleasure read, but is both exhaustively researched and so extensively footnoted that it will make an important addition to my reference library." -The Honest Courtesan

"We think we understand our society’s taboos, I certainly thought I did. But reading Robert Arthur’s fascinating, powerful book showed me how little I knew about the subject. You Will Die challenged me in the way that really good books do." -Chester Brown, Graphic Novelist, author of Paying For It


"As Arthur shows in this frequently fascinating survey of things left unsaid, the consequences of refusing to acknowledge basic realities of life go beyond silly censorship." -Reason Magazine

"Points such as the fact that most prostitutes are not drug addicts and that many actually enjoy their work, or the argument that the reason illegal drugs are so deadly is because they're illegal, won't sit well with those firmly entrenched in their beliefs, but Arthur's richly researched and readable treatise will give those open to other positions plenty to think about in this heavily annotated volume." -Publisher's Weekly

"Taboos negatively affect the latent assumptions on which Americans carry out their lives, and have transformed the pursuit of life, liberty and happiness into the pursuit of health, safety and the avoidance of death." -Alternet

"In a sense, You Will Die is two books in one; it is written in a pleasant, conversational style and presents fascinating, often obscure facts in such a way as to make it a great pleasure read, but is both exhaustively researched and so extensively footnoted that it will make an important addition to my reference library." -The Honest Courtesan

"We think we understand our society’s taboos, I certainly thought I did. But reading Robert Arthur’s fascinating, powerful book showed me how little I knew about the subject. You Will Die challenged me in the way that really good books do." -Chester Brown, Graphic Novelist, author of Paying For It

From the Publisher