Description: Written by a Queer woman of North African and Middle Eastern descent, Human(e) takes a radically non-pathology-based approach to grief and loss. In this intimate and reflective auto-ethnographic book, Bensoussan asserts that grief is a biological imperative; a life-sustaining necessity that is vital to our survival. Human(e) explores how our species has been living with, and metabolizing loss, well before there were licensed professionals and accredited institutions. Bensoussan examines the inadequacy of the idea that grief is normal, as grief goes well beyond the Western-colonial binary of normal and abnormal. Grief is human, and to grieve is to be human. Rachelle seamlessly and beautifully weaves together her vast professional expertise on grief with her own personal lived experiences of loss. Human(e) is a must read for anyone learning to live without.
Review Quotes: ?Quite simply, this is the book we all need. Harnessing the power of story, Bensoussan simultaneously naturalizes grief as a necessary part of the work of living and also provides real solace and guidance for those navigating this terrain. As this book reminds us, grief is an absolute in every life. This is the guide we need to hold us as we confront this inevitability.? ? May Friedman, Metropolitan University