Sixty-ninth Street Suicide

After suffering depression following a catastrophic event at 17, Sharon Greenwald knows she'll commit suicide one day. But she never considers what would happen if she survived. Not even a lifelong eating disorder stemming from an abortion, watching her father and best friend take their last breaths, or postpartum depression that ruins her experience as a new mother can lead her to suicide. But then, when the depression comes back after her divorce, a seemingly inconsequential event sets her plan in motion. When she awakens from a 5-day coma, Sharon has to deal with the effects of her decision, including the stunned reactions of her loved ones. As Sharon and her family try to cope with what happened, her family keeps asking "Why?" SIXTY-NINTH STREET SUICIDE is a candid, raw story that explores Sharon's every destructive thought and feeling that adds up to her why. The answer may surprise you. "As a man who has lost numerous friends to suicide but never had the slightest inclination to commit such an act, I found this memoir lucid, informative, and darkly funny, while never losing touch with the disastrously misunderstood plague that is depression-a pain and debilitation one cannot just snap out of at will. This book helps us understand those we have tragically lost and perhaps supplies hope for those who are vulnerable." -Ian Graham Leask, author of The Wounded and Other Stories About Sons and Fathers