Includes bibliographical references (pages 171-184) and index
""Contents""; ""Prologue: “To Negate Our Nothingness�""; ""1. Tolstoy: “Caius Is Mortal�""; ""2. Thomas Mann and the Lure of the Abyss""; ""3. Kafka: The Death Journey in the Everlasting Present""; ""4. Virginia Woolf: “Death Is the Enemy�""; ""5. Albert Camus: The Endless Defeat""; ""6. Giorgio Bassani: “Even Objects Die�""; ""7. J. M. Coetzee and the Scandal of Death""; ""8. Primo Levi: The Flawed Design""; ""Epilogue""; ""Acknowledgments""; ""Notes""; ""Index of Names""