Susie Bright just reviewed an interesting new book in her blog – Hello Cruel World: 101 Alternatives to Suicide for Teens, Freaks and Other Outlaws, by transsexual activist Kate Bornstein.

In this post, she interviews the author, and compliments her on including “ALL the naughty, politically incorrect, fucked-up, backwards, not-exactly-healthy ways that people DO keep living instead of dying.”

The book, she says, is “fair about every alternative, every pro and con. Drug binges, cutting, fasting, retail hysteria, and soulless fucking, etc. are not ‘great mental health’ — but sometimes if they’re the only thing you can do to keep ticking, then you bloody well do it. It also makes the more ‘wholesome’ alternatives look more credible, instead of patronizing.”

Bornstein says the book came out of her own struggles with suicidal feelings in the past: “I’ve had a lot of reasons to kill myself, and a lot of time to do it in, and I stayed alive by doing things that many consider to be immoral or illegal. I’m glad I did it, because I’ve really enjoyed writing this book.”