Sum: Tales from the Afterlives Audiobook (Unabridged)

" Still reading, but this is awesome. At first I thought I would read it all in one night. Then I decided I wanted to spread out the enjoyment. Since then, I've read as little as one paragraph in a day. It presents totally new ideas and shifts your perspective so much, that after just one paragraph I might want to stop and ponder it a while. "

" Simply put, this is a masterpiece of fiction. I don't say this often, but this is something everyone should read. "

" The premise of this book is fun. It's forty different ways the afterlife may be. Giving it stars was a bit difficult. The first half of the book was 5 stars and the last half was a three. The first half was funny and insightful, then it's as if the author ran out of ideas and needed more to make it into a book. Definately worth a read. "

" I really enjoyed this provocative and creative book. "

" Made me think a lot more than I read. Which is a fantastic quality in a book. "

" Amusing entertainment. Each story is a couple of pages long, so it is the kind of book you can pick up and read for a few minutes now and then. Each "afterlife" is wildly different from the others. If the book has a moral, I would say that it is: "If you think you know what happens after death, YOU'RE WRONG!" I read about half of the stories, then my father took the book back with him.... "

" a quick and intriguing read, "sum" was ultimately a bit of a disappointment to me. it's probably not the book's fault; i think i was hoping for some slightly more fantastical visions of the afterlife. some of the vignettes were indeed imaginative and thought-provoking, but reading them in succession i began to feel a sense of sameness among them, like there was some theme connecting them all--and there is: the afterlife isn't what we think, and it's nothing to get excited about. eagleman is a brilliant guy and a real overachiever, but he's not first and foremost a fiction writer, which is probably another reason the book left me a bit flat. "

" Some of these tales were very imaginative, while other were lackluster, or just plain depressing. Overall, an ok read. "

" Very thought-provoking. An interesting commentary on the multi-faceted human condition, this book causes one to reflect on whether the lives we live here on Earth are full of meaning or not. Or maybe both at the same time. Like I said, thought-provoking and a worthwhile read. I "

" A little gem, the slower you read it the better. "

" Very clever thought experiments about what the afterlife could be like, some of which are informed by science. "

" I heard a few of these on RadioLab and had high expectations for the book. They were not met. A few of the vignettes were interesting, but I think a group of school kids could come up with more interesting afterlives on the whole. Has someone already done a book like that? "

" Fun and imaginative. The best stories by far were the ones already featured on Radiolab. "

" Revisited this little gem and its still as fresh and thought provoking as the firat time I read it. "

" This is like fictional philosophy-lite. Quick read, and damn good. "

" SUM is a collection of short descriptions of funny and creative afterlives that act like a collection of funhouse mirrors, showing us surprising reflections of our hopes, dreams, and foibles. Brilliant. "

" A few ideas on how the afterlife might work. There's a little repetition, but it's still good. "

" I really liked these short, imaginative, lyrical vignettes about many possibilities of afterlives. "

" This book was a suggestion on Amazon for those who liked "Einstein's dreams." Another interesting one. Short chapters that are good for before bed or to read out loud. Stories about the afterlife that make you think about how you live your life now.. "

" Funny stories about what happens after you die. "

" Kindle version. Feels and reads like someone told a bunch of children to come up with stories about the afterlife which resulted in a bunch of pretty stupid and kind of silly stories without much insight. Didn't really enjoy this. "

" Absolutely brilliant book. All stories are different and go for different results on the reader. All of them are, of course, quite witty. Most are hilarious, some are sad and a few are thought-provoking. "

" Very entertaining and thought provoking; fortunately for the subject matter (different possibilities for the afterlife), at times humorous. A good read that makes living in the moment seem more important than ever. "

" Really great and thought provoking. It's a quick read; I read it in an hour. The only thing I'd say is I wish the author had changed the point of view a bit. "

" An entertaining and thought-provoking look at where we might go when we die. "

" Even better than "Einstein's Dreams--" I like this author's writing style better. He also has an interesting article in this month's issue of The Atlantic Monthly about how advances in neuroscience are/will require changes in the legal system. "

" Pretty good. It gets redundant if you read it in it's entirety at once. It's a good piece to pick up in between another read and take a segment at a time. Although it is nice to have comparisons, one after another. I recommend. "

" My only complaint is the use of the word "tales" in the title. They're not really fleshed out enough to describe them as much more than vignettes. Short short stories, maybe?Anyway, this was a fun read and gives the reader plenty to think about. "

" Fun collection of speculative fiction--really more like essays as there isn't much plot, just descriptions of possible afterlives. "

" I was impressed with the title, theme and first chapter, 'Egalitaire', but it was all down hill from there. I would characterize the book as the coherent ramblings of an intelligent author who was under the influence.. "