Death

At a point in Western history when people are more alienated from their own dying than ever before, Design for Dying strikes a blow for individuals trying to reclaim control over their own dying. Throughout his book, Leary champions individual autonomy, calling the way that people live in the United States a form of "factory life" and their deaths a form of "factory dying." Mass culture seeks to strip autonomy from the individual, reducing his or her choices. Most people, Leary claims, die as they live, beholden to the institutions that have raised them and helped form their desires. By writing about his dying days and the choices he made regarding his own death, Leary demystifies the aura surrounding death and the western taboo against talking about it in public. Not only does Leary discuss his death publicly, but he also developed a website dedicated to chronicling his...