On the other side of life : exploring the phenomenon of the near-death experience /

Valarino presents a serious first step in looking at the near-death experience (NDE) in an empirical manner. The first two chapters are designed to acquaint the reader with the definition and characteristics of the NDE as revealed by collected anecdotal accounts. Here the author shares a detailed, sequential breakdown of the NDE that resulted from her analysis of accounts of experiences gathered through the natural and social sciences. Using what seems to be qualitative research methodology, Valarino identifies and presents 31 components of the NDE, further described and illustrated with excerpts from the transcripts of NDE experiencers to help insure understanding. For readers desiring to delve further into the issues surrounding NDE, there are eight in-depth and skillfully conducted interviews conducted by the author with NDE experiencers, researchers, and scholars. The resulting data, drawn from the fields of psychology, philosophy, biology, physics, neurophysiology, and religion, are thought-provoking and will pose many questions for future researchers. Food for thought. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. M. M. Slusser; Wilkes University