The excerpt from the Emily Dickinson poem, "Because I could not stop for death…," sent me back to find the original. To be honest I'd thought it would have been better to present the whole poem. But in rereading it, I discovered that my memory of the piece had been selective. "Passages" isn't a book about poetry or even the philosophers and authors who are quoted. It is about our own emotions. I preferred the reminder of the poem to the poem itself. Many of the excerpts depend upon metaphor: understanding something abstract, like the meaning of death, in terms of something specific that we have already experienced, such as a journey, a book, sunset at the end of the day, sleep or the changing of seasons. That kind of poetic comparison is both meaningful and very intimate.

And then there is always the question of our own death. As Elizabeth Kubler-Ross explained in her classic "On Death and Dying" there are stages a person goes through: denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. The excerpts of this book encompass that range of emotions without labeling them. My favorite is by Henry Scott Holland (1847-1918). "All is well. Death is nothing at all. I have only slipped into the next room. I am I, and you are you. Whatever we were to each other that we are still…" Whether this is denial or acceptance, it made me want to keep this book for my own comfort rather than give it to someone else suffering grief. Or better yet, buy two books and do both.

There's a terrific Ewe (Togo) proverb about the death of a poor man, and quotes from everyone from Plato to James Thurber, Carl Jung and even Richard "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" Bach. The hardcover format, quality paper stock and typography are tasteful. In fact everything is first rate. Tomas Fuller and Garth Fuller who compiled this little treasure are to be congratulated. Plus a portion of the proceeds from the book will be donated to charitable organizations promoting health and enlightened end-of-life care.