Sherry's Reviews > In My Time of Dying: How I Came Face to Face with the Idea of an Afterlife

This is a short book by Sebastian Junger, author of The Perfect Storm among others, about his near-death experience, and his search to make sense of it.

I heard him interviewed on NPR about this book release, and since I am curious about death, dying, and near-death experiences (NDE), I placed the book on hold at my library.

The author is an atheist, and he tackles his questions from a scientific standpoint. The book is peppered with adventurous stories throughout his life, including dangerous surfing, solo international travel to remote places, and experiences as an embedded war journalist. When he describes how his NDE came about, he then goes into detailed descriptions of the medical procedures, how bodies and minds typically respond to massive blood loss and active dying, and how his reactions were sometimes different. In his search for answers, he turns to science, explaining particle physics and what we know about the universe today, covering “Schrodinger’s cat” (how particles can be in multiple places at once until someone observes them), and how entangled particles affect each other across any distance. This discussion culminates in something called delayed-choice quantum erasure, a scientific paradox, which means that what has been done can be undone – revised later -- at least at the quantum level.

I enjoyed reading the book, and while Sebastian draws no conclusions about the meaning of his NDE, he points out the importance of being with people we love. There is a lot to wrap your head around in this book, and I recommend it, if you are so inclined.