Writers have been killing themselves for centuries. From Petronius in ancient Rome to the 20th Century Japanese novelist Yukio Mishima, witers, more than any other kind of artist, have takem their own lives in an extraordinary number of ways. With bullets, poison, drugs and swords, poets, playwirghts, novelists and philosophers have sent themselves off into the big sleep. Others, one step shy of that last exit, have made great literature about the urge to self-destrction. Although much has been written abput the link between writing asnd suicide, no single explanation covers all the cases. Metaphysical beliefs, politicla ideals, aesthetic theory, and sheer narcissism have been some of the triggers for the plunge into annihilation. For the first time, Gary Lachman investigates the many links between self-death and the written word, bringing together an unusual gallery of literary greats including, Goethe, Hermann Hesse, Dostoyevsky, Andre Breton, Thomas Chatterton, Walter Benjamin, Arthur Witkacy, Mayakovsky and a host of other fatal characters. AUTHOR: Gary Lachman was a founding member of the rock group Blondie and wrote some the band's early hits. Before moving to London in 1996 and becoming a fulltime writer, GAry studied Philisophy, taught Englsih literature, was a science writer for a major American University, and managed a metaphysical book store. His book includes: The Dedalus Bppk of The Occult: A Dark Muse and The Dedalus Book of the 1960s: Turn off Your Mind. He is also the editor of The Dedalus Occult Reader: The Graden of Hermetic Dreams.
