In his early thirties, Greg Baxter found himself in a strange place. He hated his job, he was drinking excessively, he was sabotaging his most important relationships, and he was no longer doing the thing he cared about most: writing. Strangest of all, at this time he started teaching evening classes in creative writing - and his life changed utterly.
A Preparation for Death is a document of the chaos and discovery of that time and of the experiences that led Greg Baxter to that strange place - an extraordinarily intimate account of literary failure (and its consequences), personal decay, and redemption through reading, writing, and truth-telling. Studded with vivid, loving portraits of the people closest to him - his Austrian grandmother, who narrowly survived the Second World War; his mother and father, both described with heartbreakingly close attention; and his cousin Walter, whose own demons provide a striking counterpoint to the author's - it is above all a stunningly vivid and searching self-portrait: possibly the most honest book you'll ever read.



![Alderton, Dolly LITERARY BIOGRAPHY Everything I Know About Love: Now a Major BBC One Series [2019] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/alderton-dolly-everything-i-know-about-love-now-a-major-bbc-one-series-2019-paperback-57205101789523_{width}x.jpg?v=1727397500)
![Levy, Ariel Bargain Literary Biography Ariel Levy: The Rules Do Not Apply [2017] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/levy-ariel-ariel-levy-the-rules-do-not-apply-2017-paperback-56718409761107_{width}x.jpg?v=1728037027)
![Kafka, Franz LITERARY BIOGRAPHY New Franz Kafka: Letters To Milena [2018] paperback](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/kafka-franz-franz-kafka-letters-to-milena-2018-paperback-9781784874001-58132667236691_{width}x.jpg?v=1774638030)

![Amis, Martin LITERARY BIOGRAPHY Martin Amis: Experience [2000]](http://chaptersbookstore.com/cdn/shop/files/amis-martin-martin-amis-experience-2000-1177596638_{width}x.jpg?v=1752290731)