An engaging, insightful meditation on death, from one of our leading minds

Death is ever-present in literature. From Shakespearean tragedies to elegiac poetry, the spectre of human mortality has always haunted writers.

In this wide-ranging and personal account, Terry Eagleton examines the ways in which western culture has reflected on death. Eagleton looks at the works of novelists, poets, and playwrights—including Andrew Marvell and Dylan Thomas, Samuel Beckett and Andrew Carter. He draws together topics from a broad range of work, from comedy and humour to the literature of mortality and tragedy, to explore the ideas and individuals which have been central to his spiritual and intellectual life.

This is an erudite and humorous meditation on what it feels like to be at the end of days.