About the Book
Inspired by the website that the New York Times hailed as redefining mourning, this book is a fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices.
At a time when we mourn public figures and national tragedies with hashtags, where intimate posts about loss go viral and we receive automated birthday reminders for dead friends, it's clear we are navigating new terrain without a road map.
Let's face it: most of us have always had a difficult time talking about death and sharing our grief. We're awkward and uncertain; we avoid, ignore, or even deny feelings of sadness; we offer platitudes; we send sympathy bouquets whittled out of fruit.
Enter Rebecca Soffer and Gabrielle Birkner, who can help us do better. Each having lost parents as young adults, they co-founded Modern Loss, responding to a need to change the dialogue around the messy experience of grief. Now, in this wise and often funny book, they offer the insights of the Modern Loss community to help us cry, laugh, grieve, identify, and--above all--empathize.
Soffer and Birkner, along with forty guest contributors including Lucy Kalanithi, singer Amanda Palmer, and CNN's Brian Stelter, reveal their own stories on a wide range of topics including triggers, sex, secrets, and inheritance. Each contribution provides a unique perspective on loss as well as a remarkable life-affirming message.
Brutally honest and inspiring, Modern Loss invites us to talk intimately and humorously about grief, helping us confront the humanity (and mortality) we all share. Beginners welcome.
About the Author :
Rebecca Soffer is the cofounder and CEO of Modern Loss. A former producer for the Peabody Award-winning The Colbert Report, Rebecca is a nationally recognized speaker on the topics of loss and resilience. She is a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna and contributes regularly to books, magazines, and other media. Rebecca lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
Gabrielle Birkner is the cofounder and executive editor of Modern Loss. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism and writes regularly for national newspapers and magazines. She has served as managing editor at the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, director of digital media at the Forward, and features editor at the New York Sun. Gabrielle lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two children.
Meredith Mitchell is an actress who has performed in such films as Mona Lisa Smile and The Reunion, on stage with Shakespeare & Company and the New Repertory Theatre, and on television on Good Morning America. She received her BA in psychology from Emory University and her MFA in acting from Brandeis University.
Josh Bloomberg, an Earphones Award-winning narrator, is a trained professional actor with extensive audiobook experience as a director and narrator. Having worked with some of the biggest publishers in the audiobook industry, he is used to performing at high standards. He speaks English, French, and Hebrew fluently and is a member of the Audio Publishers Association. He also records his voice for commercial spots and other types of voice-over. In his spare time, he loves making homemade almond milk.
Review :
Modern Loss is a book about grieving and death that shimmers with life. In turn raw, searing, charming, witty, and funny, Modern Loss is full of surprises, and definitely not your mother's death-and-dying book.
-- "Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps"
A book about grieving and death that shimmers with life...Raw, searing, charming, witty, and funny.
-- "Dave Isay, founder of StoryCorps"
Finally, a book that fearlessly embraces grief and finds heretofore undiscovered areas of inspiration, humor, and, above all, light. Modern Loss is our collective Modern Gain.
-- "Damon Lindelof, cocreator of Lost and The Leftovers"
I am not sure how a book about grief could also be witty and entertaining, but Modern Loss accomplishes just that.
-- "Mindy Kaling, author of Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?"
Loss is devastating, but this frank and funny book makes it less isolating. I want to give it to everyone I know who is grieving, has grieved, or will grieve. In other words, I want to give it to everyone.
-- "Anna Sale, NPR host"
Profound, irreverent, probing, and consoling.
-- "Meghan O'Rourke, author of The Long Goodbye"
Talking about loss can feel scary. This book isn't. It's about grieving deeply over the long term, and the reassurance that you're far from broken because of it. These surprisingly funny and candid stories aren't about death; they're about life, and thriving in the face of loss.
-- "Stephen Colbert, TV personality"
