Sum

Tales from the Afterlives

By: David Eagleman

Narrated by: Gillian Anderson, Emily Blunt, Nick Cave, David Eagleman, Noel Fielding, Stephen Fry

Sum shows us 40 wonderfully imagined possibilities of life beyond death.

In one afterlife you may find that God is the size of a microbe and is unaware of your existence. In another, your creators are a species of dim-witted creatures who built us to figure out what they could not. In a different version of the afterlife, you work as a background character in other people’s dreams. Or you may find that the afterlife contains only people you remember, or that the hereafter includes the thousands of previous gods who no longer attract followers.

In some afterlives you are split into your different ages; in some you are forced to live with annoying versions of yourself that represent what you could have been; in others you are re-created from your credit-card records and Internet history.

Many versions of our purpose here are proposed; we are mobile robots for cosmic mapmakers, we are reunions for a scattered confederacy of atoms, we are experimental subjects for gods trying to understand what makes couples stick together.

These tales—at once witty, wistful and unsettling—are rooted in science and romance and awe at our mysterious existence while asking the key questions about death, hope, technology, immortality, love, biology, and desire that expose radiant new facets of our humanity.

©2010 David Eagleman (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

" Sum has the unaccountable, jaw-dropping quality of genius. It seems exquisitely adapted to fill the contemporary longing for a kind of secular holy book." ( Observer)

Loved it!

Open up your imagination as you listen. It wiil expand your world here for you among the living. Death is a subject most people avoid thinking or talking about. Death is just a part of life so carry on.
Cheers.

Loved the Book!

Loved it from start to finish. Some of the stories may seem crazy and impossible to you, but they make you think. And who doesn't love a book that encourages you to think creatively and to think outside the box and to come to your own interpretations however crazy they may seem to yourself and to others. Highly Recommend. I will definitely listen to this book many times over.

really enjoyed

very entertaining and great stories not to mention thought provoking. I would definitely recommend to anyone.

inspiring

these stories are great to listen too if you need something that sparks your creativity, or your looking for a new way to see the world.

Well done!

These stories captivated my imagination from start to finish. Highly recommend this book to all with a curious mind and an open heart.

Caution: Can blow your mind! Great!

Wow, I thought I had a diverse understanding of the possibilities beyond but this book over takes my imagination at 100 MPH as if I were standing still. Loved it! Get ready to see the possibilities at angles never considered before :)

brilliant funny and thought provoking

I bought this on a whim and found it to be very witt y and thought-provoking... The performances were excellent. I would definitely recommend this

Meh.

I wanted to love this. My book club raved about it. Couldn’t get into it, and perhaps I listened to it at the wrong time since I’ve had 7 people I know die in the last 9 months (plus a cat). Although I realize there’s subtext beneath the “afterlife” premise of the stories, I didn’t find it innovative or thought-provoking, just kinda trite (see reference to lots of deaths in my life, above). I did enjoy the performance, but also felt like this may have resonated with me more had I read, rather than listened to, this — and in fact may try that, since folks seem to love this one. Caveat emptor.

wow..

This is the first time thru and although some parts I did not understand, ultimately I understood it. I know this sounds confusing but once you listen you will understand. I will definitely listen to this many more times.

A+

Thought-provokingly imaginative and beautifully delivered. Eagleman is a master. I will likely enjoy this one a few more times.