So many times we're given preventative messages without the understanding of why people turn to suicide. I find this refreshing because there is a weird, almost soothing, moment when you are contemplating the end of your life and you're not afraid. I appreciate that this book exists because it allows readers who have had those intrusive thoughts to further analyze them on their own.

This was a great read for suicide awareness week. Clancy Martin presents a really unique view on the topic, and I think provides great understanding for those who have lost friends or family members to suicide.
I think the subtitle of this book should've been the title. This very much is a "portrait of the suicidal mind," rather than a how-to guide. While I didn't expect a literal how-to guide based on the current title, I do think the current title appeals to the wrong audience. If you're at a point where you're seeking a literal how-to guide, this book, with its very long, drawn-out meditations on killing yourself, feels like it could put you in a darker place. Although Clancy acknowledges this and provides resources, the title feels like it went for shock value over the very important task of reaching the correct audience.

This was a book that I wasn't quite sure I wanted to read while at the same time, wanted to read it. And it will be one that isn't for some while exactly what others are looking for. It's long, much longer than I thought it would be considering. And at times a little frazzled but then again, in certain states of mind most of us are frazzled. Obviously, this book focuses on suicide.... those who have been suicidal, have felt suicidal, for loved ones, etc. Yes, for some it will be too much but for others, it's helpful and perhaps will help a few not feel so alone at times. Give it a try.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an ARC copy.
All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I approached this book thinking it would be helpful as someone who has been passively suicidal myself and seen many loved ones attempt suicide. The author comes off as a pretentious philosopher who uses old quotes to justify his bad behavior. He admits to using suicide "attempts" to manipulate loved ones into doing what he wants, like after a breakup to win them back or after he physically abused his wife. I have a very hard time sympathizing with him, or his experiences, given that he talks so nonchalantly about his abusive actions.

This book was long winded, but provided a lot of great resources for someone not well versed in the topic. I would say for people who are familiar with the topic and looking for a memoir this might be too much. I thought that it would be a helpful read for someone looking for more information on the topic as it really covers all the bases.

I listened to the authors advice and if you don’t find this book helpful then don’t read it. To me, this is just not the right time for this book. Hopefully, one day I am able to read it fully because I did find it interesting and useful.

This is an honest and insightful book that offers the author's experience and advice. It's somewhat repetitive though, and was a little disorganized which made it hard to follow. It could be a good resource for those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.

I really hate to rate a memoir so low, but I have to DNF this book. I’m not enjoying it at all; it’s very disorganized & repetitive. I feel like a good editor could’ve made it more concise.

I requested this book on NetGalley because I work in psychiatry & was hoping to have another book to refer patients to. I will not be recommending this book.

Thank you NetGalley & to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Clancy Martin has attempted to take his own life more than ten times over the years. This work of nonfiction is semi-autobiographical with many quotes and “case studies” interspersed throughout. Quotes from Freud, artists and authors who have attempted or committed suicide, and philosophers are present throughout the book. The case studies generally revolve around an author or famous person who has committed suicide (e.g., Anthony Bourdain) and often have other relevant data included.

This is a difficult read for me to rate and evaluate. I requested to read this because I’ve had several people close to me commit suicide, and I was interested to gain some insight and understanding from this book. Unfortunately, I feel that the author’s message and intent got lost. This book was painfully repetitive throughout and was overflowing with information that wasn’t difficult to understand but was so incredibly dense and repetitive that I wasn’t able to absorb much from it (and I took almost six weeks to read this). This drastically decreased the impact that this book could have had and made me wonder if another round or three of editing would help.

The portions I found most compelling were the autobiographical bits. The author’s voice was more evident in these parts, and it finally felt more personal than spouting off quotes, philosophy, and statistics. His family history, his struggles with addiction, and his fascination with suicide from a young age were heartbreaking and insightful. Unfortunately, these sections took a backseat to the dense and repetitive philosophical discussions, quotes, and case studies.

The Goodreads blurb states that the author argues that “for the vast majority of suicides, an attempt does not just come out of the blue, nor is it merely a violent reaction to a particular crisis or failure, but is the culmination of a host of long-standing issues.” However, I felt that this was something I already knew going in and I assumed was something that most people these days were aware of. It felt like this work was lacking a compelling thesis which made the book lack direction.

I think that this book needs editing and a thorough revision before it can be an impactful or approachable read. Until then, I can’t recommend this to anyone and was disappointed with my reading experience. My thanks to NetGalley and Pantheon Publishing for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I have a psych degree, so I was really interested in reading this book at first. However, the book just fell flat for me and left little to be desired. It was very repetitive, and jumped around a lot during the story. Obviously depression and suicide is tough to talk about, so kudos to the author for being able to open up about mental issues.

This was heavy, but also less so because so much of it was a memoir of his life. It was Interesting, but not what I expected.

I found this book to be very repetitive and slow moving. I was interested in hearing the author’s history of depression and suicidal ideation along with failed attempts. I found it interesting in the beginning, but the author goes into too much detail at times and returns to the same experiences. It was interesting hearing his experiences one time, but could have done without the repetition. I did find the psychological and medical aspects of this nonfiction book, but found the lengthy quotes and his paraphrasing of the excerpts to be once again dry and repetitive. I think I would have enjoyed the book more if it was edited/ trimmed to remove the repetition and his lengthy interpretations of the excerpts he already provided the reader with. I became less interested in reading the book about halfway through and found myself skimming sections. An interesting premise for a nonfiction book, but poorly written/ edited. I lost interest about two thirds of the way through and skimmed the rest of the book,

Wow, this book is a heavy topic (which I knew going into it) but I feel like it should come with a warning to not read if you are actively thinking about suicide. It is a powerful memoir and I appreciate the author sharing his experiences. It is a difficult topic but an important read for those with mental health issues. Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for an ARC.

This book is a must read for anyone who is suffering from contemplating suicide. I think all libraries should have this title available for patrons to check out.

I want to start off by saying I feel this book is very triggering and would best be read from the other side of a crisis, not when a person is actively suicidal.

This is a very difficult book to read and not what I was expecting. It reads more like a memoir, rather than a self help type book. It was difficult not just because of the heavy subject matter, but also because it felt very disjointed. Perhaps some more editing would have made this book more successful, for me at least.

I appreciate the honesty and openness of the author and I can see how this could be a therapeutic read for many.

First - I think you need to be the right person, in the right frame of mind, to read this book. Martin does begin with a warning much along those lines, with resources for people who are NOT in the right frame of mind to read a frank book about suicide and suicidal ideation. Still, the whole volume is a trigger warning brought to life, but that should be obvious from the subject manner.

As for the book itself, it's a bit of an odd mix between academia, theory and philosophy and profoundly personal writing about deeply personal situations. It's a bit of a whiplash going back and forth between the two, but somehow it works – the theory backs the personal, and the personal informs the theory.

Not a book for everyone, but for those for whom it fits, it's a fascinating dive.

How not to kill yourself? It's absolutely a good question, especially when you are struggling with depression. When hopelessness becomes too much, this is where most of the depressed individuals will go. They will consider their place in this world and what could give them flicker of hope to hold on to it.

This book is Clancy Martin's internal fight to not to lose that hope even though he tried to cross that bridge several times. I liked that he found courage to write about his experiences knowing that his children would read these pages and hear his not so comforting thoughts.

I thought it would be more of a self-help book, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that it's more of a memoir. It's like that saying, there are many ways to be unhappy. This is another way to see that there are many ways to cope with depression. I hope all will some level of hope not to let everything go.

Dear How Not to Kill Yourself,
You were such an interesting book for me. I have battled with mental health issues most of my life and have even contemplated suicide a time or two. Not only did you open my eyes to his struggle (and many other people's struggle too) but you also had some strong tips and techniques for dealing with my times of instability. I was surprised at how closely addiction and suicidal ideation are linked. Clyde's struggle with alcohol was almost painful to learn about, and his several relapse broke my heart. Before tky pick this book up, please be sure to listen to the trigger warning at the beginning of the book, and if you are feeling suicidal at all, take this book slowly. It can be triggering.

Here's the link to the review in the New Yorker

https://www.newyorker.com/books/under-review/clancy-martins-writerly-repetitions

This is a rather heavy book obviously due to the subject matter. I have been gradually working my way through but this isn’t easy to digest on large chunks. The author is honest, raw, and genuine and the book is definitely well written. Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a drc.