A GOOD DAY TO DIE
What 276 executions taught a death row chaplain about life
by Carina Bergfeldt
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Pub Date May 29 2024 | Archive Date Not set
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Description
He is the last person to touch them before they die.
His face is the last they see before they are executed.
He stands there with one last goal: to get them to heaven.
276 TIMES CHAPLAIN Jim Brazzil has sat in death’s waiting room. He has listened to confessions in the eleventh hour. The last moment of the condemned is when everything bubbles up to the surface, and they have to share. Now Jim is the one dying, ready for his last confession.
THE AWARD-WINNING Swedish journalist Carina Bergfeldt and the American prison pastor start a conversation that ends up changing both their lives. He is older, patient, and wise. She is young, restless, and angry.
IN HIS HOUSE in the Texan countryside, their discussions about death and sorrow, hope, atonement, and love create a magical journey.
How are we supposed to live our lives?
Can one always be forgiving?
And what day is actually a good day to die?
Advance Praise
"One of the best books I've read. Borrowed it from the library first and then bought it."
”Brilliant, Bergfeldt! … Touching, uplifting, and awful at the same time."
"It is an easy-to-read book despite a difficult and heavy subject. The author asks the big questions with care and sincerity. The ability to forgive runs like a red thread throughout the book. The great benefit of the book is that reality is not as simple as one often wants to believe and that the coin always has two sides."
"A book to bury yourself in. Whether or not you have a strong faith it is healing to take part of their conversation."
”A touching and disturbing book, but also an experience. Maybe even an awakening.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781954938502 |
| PRICE | $4.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 304 |
Links
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Mia T, Reviewer
I absolutely LOVED this book. Jim gently describes horrific events - not only holding the ankle of hundreds of prisoners WHILE they are injected and die, but also talking with them a few hours, 30 minutes before they die. It's a completely unique and rare experience. Without Jim describing this world to us, virtually none of us could ever fathom it.
You know how they say there are both good people and bad people in every job, every race, every city etc.? It's fascinating to learn how there are both good people and bad people in prison. I didn't love the author. Her personality in the book is rude, short, cold. I didn't enjoy her parts or voice at all. But it didn't matter in the end because Jim giving us a full view into his complex and fascinating world overshadowed her.
He is a loveable, likeable, warm, sweet person. I am completely non-religious and even I didn't mind the aspects of prayer and God because I'm sure at 30 minutes before we know we're to be injected and die, we'd all try to find comfort and prayer to God, the universe, wherever we're going next.
Shireen S, Reviewer
5 stars
Raw, honest, deeply moving, and powerfully personal - these are just a few of the descriptors that come to mind when trying to describe this book. While not a Christian myself, I grew up with a lot of extremely religious Christian friends and their drive for salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus has always stuck with me. Pastor Jim Brazzil is a refreshingly and unflinchingly honest storyteller, who chronicles his time working with death row inmates in the American prison system (mostly Texas, if I recall correctly). He is not afraid to discuss his own flaws and shortcomings while working the lifepath that God laid out for him to follow, which I actually found quite refreshing. My biggest takeaway? We don't have to be perfect beings to still be able to accomplish powerful things.
Despite all the overtly religious subject matter, and despite what you might personally believe about God, the death penalty and the American justice system, the stories here are in turns uplifting, humorous, profound, and self-reflective. I was not expecting to openly weep multiple times while reading this book, yet here we are. So beware if you decide to read this while at work or around a lot of people in public because you might become a soggy mess several times over.
Thanks to NetGalley, author Carina Bergfeldt, and Buoy Media for giving me an advance readers copy of this book for free in order to read and review. All opinions are my own and have been provided voluntarily.
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