LIVING WITH DEATH

Segerberg, who covered much of the same ground in his adult The Immortality Factor (1974), offers YA's little that Langone's Death Is a Noun (1972) did not provide with more dispatch and better organization. Segerberg does much meandering and some pontificating, and his nutshell characterizations (existentialism, Buddhism) and stabs at literary criticism (What is the difference between Our Town and TV violence?) appall. Further, his concluding advice on how to achieve longevity seems as much beside the ultimate point as is the prevailing focus on medical miracles which he faults. This said, we'll acknowledge that Segerberg does recycle a good deal of fascinating research, including not only Kuyber-Ross' often cited five stages but also studies of doctors' own inordinate denial of death and avoidance of the dying, the personality differences between cancer and heart attack victims, etc. Considering the subject's vogue, an acceptable supplement.