"Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives" Review by Emily Johnson

Title: Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives
Author: David Eagleman
Rating: 4.5/5 Stars

Have you ever wondered what happens after you die? Author David Eagleman wrestles with this same question in his book Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives. In this collection of essays published in 2009 Eagleman writes forty short essays, each describing a different afterlife that could exist after we die. While reading the book I was completely enthralled.

It is a great book for a reader who might not want to follow one story from beginning to end. You can jump around, or read it cover to cover. It is a short read at only 110 pages. Each version of an afterlife is only a couple of pages long so it is great for someone who might not have time to commit to a full chapter of a different story. Also, each story is different. One might think that after reading forty different stories, they might start to sound the same. On the contrary, each tale is completely different. Some are a bit dark whereas others are funny. For example in one of the stories, a person becomes a horse in the afterlife. In another Eagleman paints the picture that God is a married couple. There is no shortage to the creativity that colors each story. There is something different for everyone. No matter what a person may believe now, there is at least one story that they can find comfort in.

Eagleman convinces the reader that the afterlife can be whatever they so choose. They can create their own afterlife. There is some comfort in that realization, but there is also a completely different type of power. We can control out living life, as well as our afterlife.

Eagleman is a unique writer because he got a Bachelor’s degree in Literature; however, he is currently a neuroscientist. What a switch! He studies time perception, synesthesia among other things in his own lab. None of the essays are particularly scientific. Though some are logical, but some are based completely in fantasy. Eagleman used this book as a way to explore forty unheard of theories of the afterlife. Each story is more believable than the next. I highly recommend Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman

Now there’s a new question to ask ourselves: which afterlife do we want to go to? Check out Sum to find out.