Mr. Fleming's Suicide

Book excerpt: John Fleming, unlucky in love and weary of endless and meaningless talk, has had enough. The story is built around a compilation of suicide notes he has written to his therapists, family members, his loving dog, and his "beloved"...the mysterious woman who is the object of his eternal affection. The suicide notes (and poems) describe his painful dissatisfaction with the mental health system, American pop culture, the scripted nature of modern life, and what he believes is the inability of anyone to simply stop talking and listen. Darkly comic, Fleming’s story holds up a mirror to contemporary American society.