There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. The second is when the body is consigned to the grave. The third is that moment, sometime in the future, when your name is spoken for the last time.
- David Eagleman, Sum: forty tales from the afterlives
Who knew a neuroscientist could be witty, imaginative, and creatively literate?
David Eagleman’s Sum is a book you read slowly, chewing over each vignette like a morsel of the finest food you’ll ever consume. It isn’t a collection you zoom through but one that says, Hey, there, slow down a bit! I’m worth your time, I promise, and it glitters and sparkles in that pleasant way that makes you glad you’ve taken the time to pick this slim volume up and enjoy it.
Of course, at the time of this writing, I’m roughly halfway through, but each vignette simply gets better and better, so I type away these words with a measure of confidence in my opinion that everyone should pick this up and make a date on a breezy afternoon with a cup of coffee to tuck this little darling away.
(My only gripe with it is the cover. It’s rather disappointing, especially considering that it’s from Vintage.)