The Suicide Index

By Joan Wickersham,

Book cover of The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order

Book description

Sixteen years ago, Joan Wickersham's father shot himself in the head. The father she loved would never have killed himself, and yet he had. His death made a mystery of his entire life. Using an index - that most formal and orderly of structures - Wickersham explores this chaotic and…

Explore
Topics
Genres
Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

1 author picked The Suicide Index as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tom Bissell Author Of The Suicide Index: Putting My Father's Death in Order
Tom Bissell
Author

This striking, intense, and beautifully meditative book offers a daughter struggling to understand her father in the wake of his suicide. It’s structured, yes, like an index, which does nothing to dilute its immense emotional power. There’s a lot of love and anger in this book, yet it’s told with extraordinary calm and exemplary clarity. Simply put, The Suicide Index is one of the most inventive, affecting memoirs I’ve ever read—a drop-everything-and-read-this-now book if there ever was one.

From Tom's list on trying to understand your parents.

The Truth About Unringing Phones

By Lara Lillibridge,

Book cover of The Truth About Unringing Phones

Lara Lillibridge

New book alert!

Sponsored by Lara Lillibridge Author

What is my book about?

When Lara was four years old, her father moved from Rochester, New York, to Anchorage, Alaska, a distance of over 4,000 miles. She spent her childhood chasing after him, flying a quarter of the way around the world to tug at the hem of his jacket.

Now that he is in his eighties, she contemplates her obligation to an absentee father. The Truth About Unringing Phones is an exploration of responsibility and culpability told in experimental and fragmented essays.

The Truth About Unringing Phones

By Lara Lillibridge,

What is this book about?

When Lara was four years old, her father moved from Rochester, New York, to Anchorage, Alaska, a distance of over 4,000 miles. She spent her childhood chasing after him, flying a quarter of the way around the world to tug at the hem of his jacket. Now that he is in his eighties, she contemplates her obligation to an absentee father.




The Truth About Unringing Phones: Essays on Yearning is an exploration of responsibility and culpability told in experimental and fragmented essays.

Topics
Genres

Want books like The Suicide Index?

Our community of 10,000+ authors has personally recommended 81 books like The Suicide Index.

Book cover of Always Crashing in the Same Car: On Art, Crisis, and Los Angeles, California Book cover of Experience: A Memoir Book cover of Borrowed Finery: A Memoir Book cover of Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter's Son Book cover of In Pieces Book cover of The Reenactments: A Memoir

Browse books like The Suicide Index

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in suicide, Boston, and philosophy?

10,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about suicide, Boston, and philosophy.

Suicide Explore 172 books about suicide
Boston Explore 171 books about Boston
Philosophy Explore 1,546 books about philosophy