Dec 14

Dec 14 How to Tell When We Will Die: On Pain, Disability, and Doom

About the book

Author: Johanna Hedva
Publisher: Zando – Hillman Grad Books

More info:
The StoryGraph | Goodreads
Note: Content and trigger warnings are provided for those who need them at the bottom of this page. If you don’t need them and don’t want to risk spoilers, don’t scroll past the review.

Buy and support indie bookstores (+ I earn a small commission):
Bookshop.org (print) | Libro.fm (audio)

My Review

I picked up How to Tell When We Will Die near the start of a period in which my brain wanted only nonfiction, and it only added fuel to the fire. What an incredibly smart, powerful, incisive essay collection.

Hedva begins with their trailblazing essay “Sick Woman Theory,” which was originally published in early 2016 and essentially proposes that the best way to stick it to capitalism is to care for one another and ourselves, because it divorces our personhood from our ability to make money. The rest of the essays build on these ideas and add to them, resulting in a scathing condemnation of ableism and daring anyone to look away.

I still cannot get over how SMART Hedva is. Every single essay challenged my worldview and made me see things in new and much more interesting ways. They are clear and precise and self-assured and pissed, and it’s absolutely electric. Honestly I should probably reread this; I’m sure I only scratched the surface of everything there is to take away.