Book Review

I was sitting around minding my own business when Death — in the form of Allan Kellehear's new book — tapped me on the shoulder. Thinking of my own near miss (1991, back seat of a runaway Checker taxi), I picked up Experiences near Death for more clues to the meaning of life. Kellehear is an Australian sociologist specializing in health, death, and dying. He considers not just garden-variety near-death experiences (like those associated with cardiopulmonary resuscitation) but also other near misses. Shipwrecks, mining disasters, and mountaineering mishaps are all touched on in his attempt to get “beyond medicine and . . .