The content of this interview may be upsetting for some listeners.
Clancy Martin is an acclaimed author, Guggenheim Fellow, and professor of philosophy at the University of Missouri in Kansas City and Ashoka University in New Delhi. He is also the survivor of more than ten suicide attempts.
In the new book, “How Not to Kill Yourself,” Martin chronicles his multiple suicide attempts. The book is an intimate depiction of the mindset of someone obsessed with self-destruction.
“How Not to Kill Yourself” combines memoir with critical inquiry to powerfully give voice to what for many has long been incomprehensible, while showing those presently grappling with suicidal thoughts that they are not alone, and that the desire to kill oneself—like other self-destructive desires—is almost always temporary and avoidable.