This work follows a doctor who works in a nursing home for the terminally ill in Holland. Various patients' stories are interspersed with philosophical discussions between three doctors, Jaarsma, Anton and Van Gooyer, about their profession, truth, despair and faith. The book also examines a range of other topics such as the history of medicine, the placebo-effect, the meagre scientific content of medical practice, the oddness of the verb to die, the failure of cancer research and the way in which our minds are anchored to our brains. Euthanasia is a recurrent theme, and detailed accounts of several cases are included.

Popular music studies is a rapidly expanding field with changing emphases and agendas. The music industry has changed in recent years, as has governmental involvement in popular music schemes as part of the culture industry. The distinction between the major record labels and the outsider independents has become blurred over time. Popular music, as part of this umbrella of the culture industry, has been progressively globalized and globalizing. The tensions within popular music are now no longer between national cultural identity and popular music, but between the local and the global. This four volume collection examines the changing status of popular music against this background. Simon Frith examines the heritage of popular music, and how technology has changed not only the production but the reception of this brand of sound. The collection examines how the traditional genres of rock, pop and soul have broken down and what has replaced them, as well as showing how this proliferation of musical styles has also splintered the audience of popular music.

Take Two, Mr. D is the result of almost two years of conversations between Linda Aidan and Pierre David. They started taping them because Linda found Mr. Ds stories so interesting, and many times amusing, that she eventually convinced Pierre they should make a book out of his fabulous experiences. His one condition was to maintain the integrity of his stories and, in so doing, that of his many friends, acquaintances, and himself.

Death is an inevitable, yet mysterious event. Fiction is one way to imagine and gain knowledge of death. Death is very useful to literature, as it creates plot twists, suspense, mysteries, and emotional effects in narrations. But more importantly, stories about death seem to have an existential importance to our lives. Stories provide fictional encounters with death and give meaning for both death and life. Thus, death is more than a physical or psychological experience in literature; it also highlights existential questions concerning humanity and storytelling. This volume, entitled Death in Literature, approaches death by examining the narratives and spectacles of death, dying and mortality in different literary genres. The articles consider literary representations of death from ancient Rome to the Netherlands today, and explore ways of dealing with death and dying. The discussions also transcend the boundaries of literature by studying literary representations of such socially relevant and death-related issues as euthanasia and suicide. The articles offer a broad perspective on death’s role in literature as well as literature’s role in the social and cultural debates about death.

"It is potentially the most divisive issue in health care: physician-assisted suicide. When is it permissible to put an end to a life? Across the United States, doctors, patients, families, and the courts are struggling with this wrenching question. While it may not provide an answer, this remarkable book sheds new light on the problem - and offers insights to those wrestling with this dilemma." "Bert Keizer is a Dutch physician with a degree in philosophy, a probing mind resistant to cant, and a manner both sardonic and compassionate. This book is a memoir of his years at a Dutch nursing home for the terminally ill - a place that requires all his resources of humanity and will, and where gallows humor is a necessity. As euthanasia is legal in Holland, Keizer is not infrequently called upon to assist in a patient's suicide. His often surprising reflections on his role are punctuated by the moving stories of his patients' lives, his own thoughts on the absurdities and paradoxes of his profession, and the blend of cynicism and complacent conventional wisdom he hears from his colleagues."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

Once you're dead, you're made for life. --Jimi Hendrix Hendrix. Janis. Morrison. Elvis. Lennon. Cobain. Garcia. Their reckless brilliance held the key to their self-destruction. Their deaths had much in common--and, surprisingly, so did their lives. From lonely childhoods marred by loss to groundbreaking music and turbulent careers that ended tragically and suspiciously, David Comfort explodes the myths as he probes: • The sinister roles of Hendrix's manager and girlfriend in his death and subsequent cover-up • The bizarre odyssey of Jim Morrison's corpse • Why Kurt Cobain was worth more dead than alive to Courtney Love • The twisted motives that caused John Lennon to sail through the Devil's Triangle to Bermuda--nearly going down in a storm--shortly before he was fatally shot • The crippling disease and "miracle" drug that drove Elvis to suicide Charismatic and gifted, but also isolated and conflicted, these are not the rock icons you thought you knew. Here are their larger-than-life stories of turmoil and excess that led to their early deaths and ultimate immortality. It's a wild ride to the other side of fame. "Fame is the soul eater." --Jerry Garcia "Everybody loves you when you're six foot in the ground." --John Lennon Includes Rare Photos David Comfort is the author of three bestselling nonfiction books. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines, including Eclectic Literary Forum, Pacific Review, Coe Review, and Belletrist Review. He has been the recipient of several literary prizes and a finalist for such prestigious awards as the Nelson Algren Award and America's Best. A former rock musician, he has spent over 30 years studying rock music, particularly the revolutionary and fatalistic pioneers of the 1960s. He lives in Santa Rosa, California.