Cressida Connolly

Throw away the Valium and start bragging instead

The Worm at the Core is too excited about overcoming the fear of death to bother with the enjoyment of life

Make up: Setting us apart from other mammals? Thinkstock Photos 
issue 23 May 2015

This is not a book to be read in solitude. Not for the obvious reason that it’s frightening, but because every few lines some fascinating or unexpected fact forces you to exclaim: ‘Blimey! Listen to this …’

The three authors are American psychology professors. As young academics they were much influenced by the work of the anthropologist Ernest Becker, whose final book, The Denial of Death, won the 1974 Pulitzer Prize.

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Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

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