SIMON Boas’s book A Beginner’s Guide to Dying sold out its initial 20,000 print run and will be translated into several languages.
Publishers Swift Press confirmed that the book – described by the Daily Mail as“an inspirational paean to the joy of life” – has already been reprinted following its launch last month.
And the novel rose to third in the hardback best-sellers list after its first full week of sales.
The author’s reflections on what makes life so important and how best to prepare for its ending – which first appeared in articles in the Jersey Evening Post – were published just two months after his death from throat cancer at the age of 47.
Publisher Mark Richards of Swift Press said that in addition to exhausting all 20,000 copies in the initial print run, publication rights had already been sold to seven countries including Germany, Japan, Latvia and Taiwan.
Mr Richards said they were “so pleased” that the book “resonated with so many people”.
“It has been a truly singular publishing experience, and we are so glad that Simon’s wise, funny and heartbreaking words have touched so many people, both in this country and around the world,” he added.
Mr Boas, former chief executive of Jersey Overseas Aid, spent his last months working on the book, prompted by the impact made by a series of articles written for the JEP which were subsequently reprinted nationally.
In Jersey, the book was launched at Waterstones on 12 September by Mr Boas’s widow, Aurélie, who said: “Simon managed to see the cover of the book, not the first draft but the cover. I think writing it gave him a sense of purpose.”
Reviewing the book in the Guardian, Alex Preston wrote: “There are wonderful vignettes, beautiful meditations on faith and friendship, advice for the dying and those around them. It’s going to come for all of us, death, and I hope I’ll have this extraordinary title by my side when my turn comes.”
