The Book Prize Index

The Denial of Death

Ernest Becker

Addresses the issue of mortality discussing how humans universally share a fear of death and examines the theories of leading thinkers on this subject including Freud, Rank, and Kierkegaard.

Society & CultureSociety & Culture · high confidenceSociety & Culture81 signalsLlm Classifier: Society & Culture -> Society & CultureGoogle Books: Family & Relationships -> Society & CultureTopic Classifier: Reconstruction -> American HistoryReconstructionBlack History & CulturePrisons & Incarceration

Award History

1 wins · 1 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Pulitzer Prize in General NonfictionMajor1974WinnerSecondary source
View all award history (1)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • Freud40%
    • Rank35%
    • Kierkegaard40%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No argument inferred with sufficient confidence.

    This suggestion did not meet the normal display threshold and is more likely to be wrong.

    Humans universally fear death, and their shared mortality fear can be understood through theories advanced by leading thinkers discussed in the book.

    Model confidence 55%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    45 / 100 academic

    Trade / academic crossover

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 58%.