Give Sorrow Words: A Father's Passage Through Grief - Hardcover

Crider, Tom

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565121163 ISBN 13: 9781565121164

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 1996

Synopsis

When Tom Crider's only child, Gretchen, died in an apartment fire at age twenty-one, there seemed to be no answers to his questions. Now Tom Crider has written the book he searched for in his grief and couldn't find, one that offers--without sermons or certainty--companionship in agony and an exploration of spiritual issues related to death. It's a book for good people who've had bad things happen but who can't find consolation in prayer. It's a book for readers--people who would, in sorrow, naturally turn to books for shared experience, reflection, wisdom, comfort in words passed down through the ages. Filled with gleanings from the wisdom and text of many cultures, Tom Crider shares with us the wisdom that helped him find peace and understanding. GIVE SORROW WORDS is a book for any bereaved person facing the loss of a loved one.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

This is a book for any bereaved person who is facing loss without the support of firm religious beliefs. When Tom Crider's only child, Gretchen, died in an apartment fire her junior year in college, there seemed to be no way to assuage his pain or to find meaning in his daughter's sudden death. Now he has written the book he searched for in his grief and couldn't find, one that offers - without sermons or certainty - companionship in agony and an exploration of spiritual issues related to death. It's a book for readers, people who would, in sorrow, naturally turn to books for shared experience, reflection, wisdom - comfort in words passed down through the ages. Give Sorrow Words begins just after Gretchen's death. It ends a year later as her father begins to accept his loss. With exquisite honesty, Crider describes his struggle with grief's turbulent emotions, a mind unhinged, and an ego intent upon preserving its illusions. By interspersing the narrative with entries from his journal, he documents the inward progress of his search for solace in nature and in children, good friends and beloved family. Most of all, though, he offers what he discovered in literature. Filled with gleanings from the wisdom and text of many cultures - from Socrates to the teachings of Buddha, from the biography of Queen Victoria to the Book of Job, from poets Yeats and Eliot to Holocaust survivors - Tom Crider shares with us the wisdom that helped him find peace.

About the Author:

Tom Crider is a contributor for Algonquin Books titles including: "Give Sorrow Words".

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 1565121163
• ISBN 13: 9781565121164
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 176