Death by Living: Life Is Meant to Be Spent

A poetic portrait of faith, futility, and the joy of this mortal life.

In this astoundingly unique book, bestselling author N.D. Wilson reminds each of us that to truly live we must recognize that we are dying. Every second we create more of our past—more decisions, more breathing, more love and more loathing, all of it slides by into the gone as we race to grab at more moments, at more memories made and already fading.

We are all authors, creators of our own pasts, of the books that will be our lives. We stare at the future or obsess about the present, but only the past has been set in stone, and we are the ones setting it. When we race across the wet concrete of time without purpose, without goals, without laughter and love and sacrifice, then we fail in our mortal moment. We race toward our inevitable ends without artistry and without beauty.

All of us must pause and breathe. See the past, see your life as the fruit of providence and thousands of personal narratives. What led to you? You did not choose where to set your feet in time. You choose where to set them next.

Then, we must see the future, not just to stare into the fog of distant years but to see the crystal choices as they race toward us in this sharp foreground we call the present. We stand in the now. God says create. Live. Choose. Shape the past. Etch your life in stone, and what you make will be forever. “

N.D Wilson Author’s Collection Editions: These premium editions featuring new forewords and afterwords are published by the author with special permission from Thomas Nelson.

Foreword by John Wilson.

You can also purchase this as an audiobook here, on audible,* on SCRIBD, and wherever audiobooks are sold.

* All purchases made through this link will earn us a small commission through Amazon Associates, an affiliate program.

What People Are Saying:

A Winner of the Christianity Today 2014 Book Awards!

“Death by Living is a reflective yet lively mishmash of theology, philosophy, and memoir. Wilson’s mantra that ‘life is meant to be spent’ seeps from every pore of this book. Both playful and poetic, Wilson’s carpe diem challenge is sweaty with urgency, his anecdotes buzzy with vibrancy.” -Christianity Today Book Awards 

“Death by Living is a hybrid of memoir, apologetics, theology, philosophy, and lyrical prose, at once irreverent and worshipful, comical and elegiac. But where Tilt-A-Whirl focused on a way of seeing, Death by Living focuses on ‘a way of living, a way of receiving life.'” ~Brett McCracken, Christianity Today

“Wilson issues a robust call to a deep, rich, risky, sacrificial, joyful, exhausting, and ecstatic life—one that takes us beyond our perpetually curved-in-on-self existence. To do that, he deploys a level of linguistic friskiness that disrupts, disarms, and rouses us to life…. We’re good at advancing arguments, parsing passages, making numbered observations on texts, and gospelizing literally everything (figuratively-speaking). Writing and preaching with dripping, juicy meat on the bones of our structural outlines isn’t too common, though. While the Spirit ultimately enlivens the Word in our hearts, he has decided to work through means. If we want people to embrace the doctrines of the faith with the kind of abandon Wilson (and the New Testamant) calls for, it’s better to give him something lively to work with. If you hadn’t picked up on it, Death by Living is a great book. Buy it. Read it. Give it away. Most importantly, though, try to live it.” -Derek Rishmawy, The Gospel Coalition

“My go-to read when I need a reminder of how to make each day count. Wilson’s combination of sharp theology and off-kilter, non-sequitur anecdotes evolve the intellectual challenges of his 2009 book Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, to challenges of how we ought to live. In Death By Living, Wilson draws parallels and pathways from his grandparents’ stories to his story to his children’s stories. This can sound sure and simple, but Wilson’s writing takes us through all the raw twists and turns of life and death and beyond.” -Sharon McKeeman, Relevant Magazine

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N.D. Wilson is the bestselling author twelve critically acclaimed novels, including the “100 Cupboards” trilogy and the “Ashtown Burials” series. Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl, Wilson’s first work of nonfiction, remains a touchstone of Christian thought after more than a decade in print. His second volume, Death by Living, was named Book of the Year by Christianity Today. With millions of books sold, Wilson has since expanded into film and television as a writer, producer, and director. He has founded the Camperdown Writer’s Kiln at New Saint Andrews College, and he co-hosts the popular Stories Are Soul Food podcast. A father of five, a husband of one, and a track and basketball coach to many, he is happiest when grilling meat for his people and watching the wind on the hills.    

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AUTHOR: N.D. Wilson

PAPERBACK PUBLISHER: Thomas Nelson

HARDBACK PUBLISHER: N.D. Wilson

PAGE COUNT: 208 pages

HARDBACK SIZE: 5×8″

HARDBACK ISBN 10: 1-59128-109-1

HARDBACK ISBN-13: 978-1-59128-109-2

HARDBACK RELEASE DATE: August 20, 2024

PAPERBACK SIZE: 5.5×8.5

PAPERBACK ISBN-10: 0785290079

PAPERBACK ISBN-13: 9780785290070

RELEASE DATE: August 6, 2013