At heart, suicide is a subversive act: the assertion of individual will against public authority. How is it, then, that the act of suicide one with defiant political implications has come to be viewed as the last refuge of the self-destructive victim? In "Leaving You," Lisa Lieberman explores the puzzle of this reigning perception of suicide. Drawing on diverse sources, from biblical stories to Romantic novels, philosophical theories, and psychiatric diagnoses, along with contemporary memoirs of suicidal depression, she shows how the idea of suicide as an act of protest has pervaded Western attitudes toward self-destruction, yet how our contemporary view attempts to deny suicide's disruptive potential by depriving the act of its defiance. Efforts to read meaning out of suicide are not hard to find today, Ms. Lieberman finds. Therapeutic strategies that treat suicide as an illness medicating the depression while ignoring the underlying motivations that drive people to end their lives effectively diminish individual responsibility for the decision to die. Sociological explanations that emphasize social causes over individual intentions serve to make suicides passive. Our reluctance to recognize the right to die, to concede this right even to the terminally ill, betrays our uneasiness with the power implied in the act of self-destruction. Ms. Lieberman aims to restore autonomy to the so-called victims by showing how suicide came to function as a vehicle for constructing identity.

Lisa Lieberman-Wang is a #1 Best Selling Author & America's F.A.B. (Finally...Authentic Breakthroughs) Coach. With a career spanning over 20 years Lisa has personally helped thousands achieve their dreams - both personal and professional. FINE to FAB is a Must-Have Guide to Living an Authentic Life Now It is the blueprint that awakens you to your authentic self. Lisa was among millions of individuals turning to food for comfort and support. Stemming from abuse and resulting in a battle with depression, emotional eating, bulimia and other forms of self-sabotage. Lisa's innovative work for herself and others uncovers the origins of self sabotage that have held you back in the past, providing step-by-step guidance with humor and candor to go from feeling F.I.N.E. to being F.A.B. (Fabulous, Awesome, Beautiful). It will propel you forward to reclaim your inner peace and power, while rewriting the story of your life. ***Start living an authentic life without blame, shame, or years of therapy. It is brilliant *** ***"Study this book as if your life depended on it because it already may. Lisa Lieberman-Wang is an expert at helping people follow her path from fine (F*@%*d Up, Insecure, Neurotic & Emotional...fine) to FAB... Please... get one for yourself and one for every woman, of every age, you care about." -Raymond Aaron, NY Times Bestselling Author of Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul*** Find the author on Facebook: lisaliebermanwang Twitter: @liebermanwang www.LisaLiebermanWang.com