The Enigma of Grief & the Sublime

Robert Arnold Johnson ■ Susan Eileen Pickett ■ Mark G. Brown

Available September 2025

Published by Robert Arnold Johnson in affiliation with Fearless Literary
Paperback | 146 pages
Ebook edition available
ISBN: 979-8-218-67826-5

Front cover: The Enigma of Grief & the Sublime. View of Vietnam Veteran's Memorial with Washington Monument in background, blue sky and trees are reflected on the the Memorial monument

WHAT IS THIS BOOK ABOUT?

Everyone loses someone or something they have treasured. There is no life without grief. We may say, then, that this is a book for everyone. And you may ask, how can that be, if everyone knows about grief already? Our answer is this: we believe that, despite its ubiquity, it is widely misunderstood. It gets confused with feelings of defense. Grief is calm: calm and sublimely sad. We talk about what it feels like, how to find it, what it means to have found it. We offer pieces of art—literary art, musical art, and visual art. Because once you’ve learned to recognize the sublime in art you will have gained the capacity for feeing it within the sadness you bear, your sadness for those you’ve loved and lost, for the injuries you’ve suffered. It may be made use of for consoling others for their losses, and we talk about that. It may play a part in a psychotherapy for mourning that’s become disabling, and we talk about that. It may influence the role that you assign to art and nature within your life, even that.        

 

  • “A vigorous inquiry into the essential nature and many manifestations of grief and its bond with the sublime, especially in the context of the arts.”

    John David Earnest, composer. New York, NY

  • “This book reveals a pathway to natural grief, a far better place. … the book’s new insights using music, art, and ‘pairing periods’ to accompany patients on the journey to natural grief was a revelation. … it’s essential.”

    Joseph Wujek, MD, FACOG (retired)

  • “Illuminating and helpful in understanding grief. I’m particularly drawn to the idea of sublime sadness. This concept resonates to me both artistically and personally. This book has helped me to understand [my own] experience much more clearly!”

    David Glenn, trombonist, composer, Associate Professor of Music (retired)—Whitman College

  • “Beautifully written, profound and original essays on the subject of grief, as expressed in art, sculpture, music, and deeply empathic psychotherapy. A wonderful read for mental health practitioners, for those with an interest in aesthetics, and those who are simply intellectually curious. Highly recommended.”

    Franklin G. Maleson, MD, Training and Supervising Psychoanalyst, Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia; Faculty, Sidney Kimmel College of Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia

  • “This book will take its place in the history of science, art, and philosophy. It offers so much compassionate wisdom and inspiration that what is found in its pages is simply food for the soul.”

    Pat Stanley Matthews, Broadway and film actress, dancer, and singer (now retired) [e.g., Goldilocks, Sunday in New York (Broadway version, with Robert Redford), The Ladies’ Man (with Jerry Lewis).