Stephen Lives: His Life, Suicide and Afterlife

by Anne Puryear

Book Overview

From Simon & Schuster, Stephen Lives! is Anne Puryear's exploration of her son Stephen--his life, suicide, and afterlife. The mother of a teenager who committed suicide chronicles her grief process... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 067153663X
• ISBN13: 9780671536633
• Release Date: March 1996
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 250 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Who should purchase this book?

If you are wondering whether or not you will love or hate this book after reading many of the very disparate opions written here, I hope to clear it up a bit... Firstly, if you are an admamant atheist, forget it. If you are a fundamentalist Christian, not for you. However, if you are an openminded skeptic, much like myself, who is interested in the existence of near death experiences and other kinds of strange and unexplainable paranormal occurances, you might like the book, or at least be interested. If you have just suffered a loss of a loved one very recently (say, within 6 - 12 months) perhaps this book might be a little much to take all in one gulp, if you don't agree with the beliefs. I myself do agree with many of the beliefs and that's why I gave this book such a high rating. Some of the beliefs in the book are: 1. Life after death exists. Communication with souls who have crossed over is possible. 2. Suicide is not an option for young people because it causes so much pain for those left behind. (However, for older people with chronic fatal illnesses it is different) I think that a lot of the reason that people did not like this book is because they may have focused more on the suicide notes that Stephen left behind, and not the tormented words of his mother. These notes are sad, yes, but in Stephen's twisted way, he tried to make light of the situation and made lots of jokes and thought everything would be better once he died. The notes are truly sad and I think we should try to remember how naive he was at 15 years of age. I lost one of my best friends to suicide, and I am sure that she thought she would be better off "over there" because she was in so much mental anguish. Stephen's notes do not belie the immense pain he must have felt, probably because even in his death he was trying to uplift the people around him and help them get over grieving for him. He had a personality that seeked to please others, and the jokes and pronouncements about how he'll be so much better off dead and on the other side are a sad lie to himself. Or maybe he really did not know how much his family would suffer. I myself did not forsee how horrifying suicide could be. I thought that if anyone around me ever did that, it would be like griveing a normal death. How wrong I was. I can understand why people would react so strongly to this book. Most of the people, from what I can tell from their posting, have lost someone to suicide. This type of death causes so much pain in those left behind that many people actually suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Some people are looking for someone to blame for Stephen's death, as much as they are looking to blame someone for the death of their own loved one. In this case, it is the author, Anne, who gets blamed. Many grievers also feel unmitigated anger, towards everything and anything. This is a normal part of grief. These people need to express their anger in a healthy way. That's why I wouldn't recco

Enlightening!!!!!!

As a "suicide survivor" after the death of my younger brother, I found this book very enlightening. The suicide of a loved one leaves many unanswered questions for the survivors. Reading this book acknowledges many of the same feelings I had, and continue to have,after my brothers death. I hope with all my heart that my brothers spirit is watching over our family, as I miss him dearly every day. This book has brought me hope for my journey into the next life.

Amazing

I actually bought this book twice. The first time I read it I gave my copy to a mother who lost her child though suicide who my son had the unfortunate circumstance to have found this child dead. This book was highly recommended by the voice of God in Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsh. This is why I bought it. I purchased a second copy to read again. I only am writing this review after reading all the negative reviews on this book. I can only imagine that this book could bring comfort to any parent who has lost a child. If you believe in the afterlife, then this book will offer great comfort. I know for a fact that loved ones return after they die. It has happened too many times in my own life to be just a coincidence. I really feel sorry for people who have so much negativity in their lives and can't see or don't want to see the light. This book is not for everyone. That much is obvious a lot of the reviews that I have read. Kudos to Anne Puryear for having the courage to write it.

An endorsement of LIFE, not suicide!

I thought this was a wonderful book. I will attempt to explain why by commenting on several other comments that have been made here.The reviewers who hated this book seem to be concentrated in two distinct camps: (1) Those that hated the book because it was dictated by a "dead" person-- and this does not conform to their personal beliefs about the afterlife and (2) Those who hated this book because the son, Stephen, seems to be having a great time in the afterlife-- and therefore it seems to them that this book actually ENDORSES suicide. I would like to comment on these two ideas.First, there are a group of reviewers who call this book junk because a "dead" boy is speaking to his mother-- at best, the negative reviewers say that the mother is delusional with grief, at worst that she is crazy. There is no way that we can prove one way or another if this is true or not-- that is, whether a boy is actually communicating from beyond the grave. However, to dismiss the claim so peremptorily with such comments as "Stephen doesn't live anywhere except in the fanciful mind of his mother, the author" and "This is new age tripe at it's worst" is not only dismissing the author, but almost every major world religion-- Christianity, Islam and Judaism all purport a belief in life after death. I am not an expert on Islam, but there are examples in both the Old and New Testament of so-called after-death communication. So to call this book "New Age tripe" simply because the author claims to have had an experience which has been reported in holy literature for over 4000 years is simply incorrect. After-death communication is not even close to "New" Age-- in fact, it is very "Old" Age. Whether it is TRUE or not is another question altogether-- but to dismiss the claim out of hand is irresponsible, and in fact insulting to many so-called mainstream religious doctrines.(However, it doesn't matter if you believe this or not. You can still come away the message even if you do not believe in life after death.)Second, there are those who hated this book because it seemed to them to endorse suicide. This in my mind is the more relevant point. However, upon reading this book I did not see how this book endorsed suicide at all-- in fact, it was strongly anti-suicide, as far as I could tell. True, the son is now seemingly doing well on the other side, but in no way does this endorse suicide. In fact, in the book it is emphasized again and again that killing himself was the worst possible thing that Stephen could have done-- that by doing so, he lost out on so much, on so many opportunities. Yes, he is doing OK now, but even so he will NEVER be able to accomplish the things that he could have had he chosen to live. This is a regret and a pain that he says that he will carry for his eternity. That sounds like a little piece of hell to me-- knowing that you had a tremendous, golden opportunity, but that you rejected it pe

A wonderful book and awareness of our children

This book helps us as parents realize how sensitive our children really are and how they are affected by the environment they are brought into. I had a young sister who committed suicide in 1983 and as devastated as I was, I prayed very hard for answers about the unknown. My life has dramatically changed since that time as I have been guided into the life of spirituality (not religion)through the many books that I believe have been inspired such as this one by God.It has also heighten my awareness and understanding of my precious children and their needs. I thank God for them. I work in a profession that teaches suicide prevention and I will highly recommend this book to anyone who is open to the truth in life and afterlife. Thank you Stephen and Anne!