*Starred Review* Year after year, Norma Bowe faces a waiting list of students wanting to get into her death class at a college in New Jersey. Beyond the probing about last wills and good-bye letters and class trips to mortuaries and cemeteries is the underlying truth that a good, long stare at death can trigger a deeper appreciation of life. Damaged herself by a tormented childhood, Bowe attracts others who are damaged and consciously and unconsciously looking for answers. Award-winning journalist Hayasaki spent four years following Bowe and her class and details the journey of a young woman’s vigil against her mother’s suicide attempts, a young man’s effort to save his schizophrenic brother, and a former gangbanger’s effort to leave behind his violent past. Along the way, she explores her own adolescent trauma when a close friend was killed. Following Erik Erikson’s teachings on the stages of life, the class works through assignments that require them to write a bucket list, a letter to their younger selves, and their own eulogies as they ponder life lessons and consider the reluctance to confront death. Hayasaki offers a completely engaging look at death and the meaning of life. --Vanessa Bush
“Readers will come away struck by Bowe's compassion—and by the unexpectedly life-affirming messages of courage that spring from her students' harrowing experiences.” (
Entertainment Weekly)
“[Hayasaki] skillfully weaves together difficult stories, finding unexpected connections….The book’s strength lies in the well-observed details of the lives portrayed, and in the recognition that the work Bowe and her students are doing is messy, necessary stuff. Hayasaki acknowledges this by bookending chapters with writing prompts from Bowe’s syllabus—‘Be a Ghost’—as if to encourage readers to consider the big questions on their own.” (
New York Times Book Review)
“By chronicling the stories of Bowe and four of her students, Hayasaki imbues the austere topic of death with tangible narrative immediacy. It’s a book of powerful scenes.” (
Boston Globe)
“At its heart, this book spotlights a bumpy but certain road to resurrection and imparts its wisdom as it traverses a drama-filled landscape, one pocked with suicides and cold-blooded murder, abuse and addiction. . . .
The Death Class manages to glide gracefully and delicately through the parts — say, the autopsy table — where you're sure you'll retch, if you can even keep your eyes on the page. And for sticking with it, you're rewarded with poetic passages and assorted revelations you'll likely not forget. . . . Hayasaki, through Bowe, drums in the essential lessons of how by finding purpose beyond ourselves, we infuse our lives with meaning and lessen our fear of death." (
Chicago Tribune)
“Year after year, Norma Bowe faces a waiting list of students wanting to get into her death class at a college in New Jersey. Beyond the probing about last wills and good-bye letters and class trips to mortuaries and cemeteries is the underlying truth that a good, long stare at death can trigger a deeper appreciation of life…Award-winning journalist Hayasaki spent four years following Bowe and her class and…offers a completely engaging look at death and the meaning of life.” (
Booklist, starred review)
“Who would want to take a class on death? Everyone, it turns out. Norma Bowe, the most popular professor on campus and instructor of ‘Death in Perspective’ at Kean University is an unsung hero of our day. Erika Hayasaki takes us on an unforgettable journey with Bowe and the many people in her orbit touched by her wisdom and compassion. Erika’s book is the last lesson you’d ever need on life.” (Ruth Davis Konigsberg, author of The Truth About Grief: The Myth of Its Five Stages and the New Science of Loss)
“
The Death Class is at once puncturing and redemptive, sharing humanity’s most painful, violent face while at the same time revealing a fierce optimism and stunning generosity. It is more than a glimpse of a remarkable educational experiment. It shares the story of an extraordinary teacher whose very life is the class while weaving together the lives of students who struggle with complex, tormenting problems and find grace in each other. Its stories have lodged in me and will not soon let me go.” (Erica Brown, author of Happier Endings: A Meditation on Life and Death)
“This is a beautiful book about courage—the courage to turn and face your own life and death, and the courage to make a difference in the lives of others.
The Death Class points to a way of living fully, gratefully, and meaningfully every day.” (Elizabeth Lesser, author of Broken Open and cofounder of the Omega Institute)