Teach Me How to Die

Book excerpt: Walter Klein can't stop thinking about death. He wonders what would happen if he stuck a knife in his toaster. He wonders if his latest elevator ride will end in the cable snapping and everyone plummeting to their doom. He wonders if today will be the day he dies, but he knows it won't be from a toaster or an elevator. It will be from the cancer. He has refused treatment, and soon the cancer will take him away. There is no hope left. When Walter finally passes on, after a painfully ordinary day full of a million little regrets, he has no idea what awaits him. The first person Walter meets on his journey is his guide, Vincent. As the two men make their way through different planes of existence and contemplate the true meanings of life and death, something surprising will happen. Vincent begins to see Walter as a friend. The adventures that await the lonely spirit and his steadfast guide will change both of their hearts and reveal the truth about human nature. Writer Joseph Rauch uses Walter and Vincent to weave an intricate story about spirituality, death, grief, and love.