Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck

"Eric G. Wilson's smart, probing new book . . . sets out to explain what lies beneath our collective fascination with death and suffering . . . "Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck "isn't some holier-than-thou polemic out to cure us of our dark leanings . . . Instead, it simply aims to help readers gain 'a fulfilling response to two of life's greatest, most pressing and persistent questions. What is the meaning of suffering? What is the significance of death? . . . The book's slim, peripatetic chapters cover an awful lot of erudite territory, as Wilson draws ideas and research from a delightful grab bag of academics, artists and thinkers. Aristotle, Freud, Kant, Goya and Hardy all make appearances, alongside an assortment of sociopaths and serial murderers." --John Wilwol, "NPR.org" "Wilson is provocative, entertaining and above all honest." --Chris Tucker, "The Dallas Morning News""A leisurely, light-footed overview of our cultural obsession with doom, gloom, and gore." --Josh Rothman, "The Boston Globe ""Compelling . . . Wilson keeps hearing a voice within that tells him to 'look.' He follows this instinct, energized by the idea that his thoughtful connoisseurship of the world's darkness is good--noble, even. Wilson draws on philosophers, poets, psychologists, filmmakers and more to build a case that 'an eager, open-minded interest in the macabre' provides 'a special invitation to think about life's meanings' . . . Wilson's guidance is personal, engaging, and convincing . . . The book offers heaps of terribly tantalizing topics." --Chris Jozefowicz, "Rue Morgue ""Mixing anecdotes, arguments and his own quirky persona, the author of "Against Happiness "delivers a provocative meditation on morbid curiosity and the pleasure of seeing others suffer." --"The Times-Picayune "(New Orleans)" "" ""Wilson explores [his theme] with zeal and a great deal of wit. It's hard, as one reads this fascinating book, not to see quite a bit of ou