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Not Yet

Erik Segall

Book Excellence Gold Medalist; Winner of the Silver Medal in the Living Now Book Awards for “books that have changed your life” and the Bronze Medal in Literary Fiction for the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Book Awards; Maincrest Media Book Award

“Entertainment Encourages Suicide”

Aaron Clifton, a social worker at the Suicide Prevention & Crisis Hotline Center, is tormented by the request to help his ailing grandmother kill herself.

A literary, psychological novel imbued with social commentary, Not Yet reflects on the depressive conditions that lead to suicide. This introspective, in-depth character study of a single father, who is utterly surrounded by women, details the emotional struggle of raising a teenage daughter while confronting the imminent demise of his grandmother slowly engulfed by Alzheimer’s. The dark theme of suicide is uplifted by musings on race, religion, history and feminism, and with humor occurring suddenly in the midst of dialogue-driven Socratic therapy. Not Yet offers a temporally-deconstructed glimpse of a man conflicted by the contemplation of assisting his grandmother in death. A novel full of holiday cheer by a suicide hotline worker

Praise for Not Yet

“A fresh view of suicide from a new author should be read by anyone affected clinically or personally by suicide. The two main questions, why and how, are explored in detail by Mr. Segall in his work of literary fiction. His poignant account cleverly wrestles with facts about suicide as well as how the main character, a crisis counselor, processes these precarious moments when decisions mean the difference between life and death. Read it and learn. It’s a stunning work by a writer with a gift for storytelling.”

—Dr. Jody Glittenberg, Pen Women of America finalist, author of The Promise Seed

“With an underlying sense of humor running throughout”

—Pueblo Chieftain
 

“A human story told with fearless compassion, without lapsing into pedantry, Segall’s novel demonstrates truths often overlooked in the age of spectacular media, escalating news-cycle and daytime drama, and escapist-entertainment-hounding. First, we do not need talk-show-worthy circumstances to suffer deeply: living itself is psychologically dangerous. Second, that here, as in life, there is true respite to be found—in authentic interpersonal interaction. And foremost, a message not to be missed, when we own our responsibilities we create meaning; and where we find meaning, we find purpose, courage, and personal power. Far more than simply a story surrounding a theme, Not Yet lives out distortions of time that trace a mind’s path through modern mental illness—ascending anxiety and unqualified depression. Through the gradual revelation of circumstance and character, Segall offers a window opening upon the process of madness, sometimes chilling, often warm or humorous, and always believable. Plus, the Tupac skit is the da bomb.”

—Midwest Book Review, Adam Dunham, PhD, Department of English, Trinidad State Junior College

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Not Yet

by Erik Segall
Release date: December 11, 2019
Genre: Fiction; Humor
Price: $22.95
ISBN: 978-1-941861-67-7

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Julia Alvarez, Author of How the García Girls Lost Their Accents, holding Erik’s Baby

“An elaborate explanation of suicide with several kinds of fun on every page—grim, offensive, tender and touching. Segall’s characters are of a wilder sort; harsh yet loving, suffering yet giddy . . . and left me stunned by the pace, drama, and humanity of his conclusion. This book will travel everywhere.

—Dr. Nancy Regalado, Professor Emerita of French Medieval Literature at New York University
 
 
 

“The careful reader will discover specific communication skills . . . and the snippets of dialogue in NOT YET are full of learning tools!”

—Barbara Hadley MA/LPC, Professor of Psychology at Colorado State University-Pueblo, author of If Not Joy Now, Then When?

“Erik Segall’s work not only touches the sharp edge of the human existential condition, but also acts a bastion of both hilarity and tenderness around the reality of death and choice. Read his work if you want to be deeply touched by the sacred and the ephemeral.”

—Katie Silcox, NYT Best-Selling Author

“If the mission of an author is, by creative thoughts, to give us a foreshadowing of a higher reality, then Erik Segall has done just that in Not Yet.  He strikes all the neurons and emotional cords while directing them to timely images of eternity.”

—C. Buck Weimer, Author of  The Darien Jungle Shakedown Cruise

Podcast:

The Authors’ Show – Interview with Erik Segall

About the Author

Erik Segall, award-winning author of NOT YET (Harvard Square Editions), recipient of the Silver Medal in the Living Now Book Awards for “books that have changed your life” and the Bronze Medal in Literary Fiction for the 26th Annual Colorado Independent Publishers Association (CIPA) EVVY Book Awards. He earned a degree in Creative Writing from the University of Southern Colorado and a Master of Arts in the Eastern Classics from St. John’s College. He taught for several years at the Colorado School for the Deaf and Blind, and volunteered at the Pueblo Suicide Prevention Center until its untimely demise. You can follow his blog at www.eriksegall.com