9-15 assignment

If I was in my local book store, browsing for my next book to read, the title Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher would certainly catch my attention. My first thought would be "Thirteen reasons why...WHAT?" That suspense alone would prod me to open the book and read the front inside jacket. I think that the author purposely left off more information in the title so that people would be intrigued, impelled, and ultimately interested enough by the title to do as I did and read the summary inside the book. The author's choice of the number thirteen is also a technique to try to seize the attention of readers. Although I do not believe in luck, the number thirteen is certainly considered unlucky. The number thirteen in the title gives probability that the outcome of the thirteen reasons is an unfortunate event. The numbers twelve and fourteen would not have the same effect as the number thirteen. As I am now partially into this book, I know clearly that the author is telling the story of a high school aged girl who has committed suicide and she has left behind thirteen reasons (on tapes) why she has committed suicide. Each of the "reasons" is addressed to a certain person from her life so that they can know why she chose suicide for her life and so they can bear the guilt. One last thought on the title is: why did the author choose to leave the word "suicide" out of the title, when that is the underlying core of the book? Having the word "suicide" in the title may cause the reader to focus too heavily on the suicide itself, rather than the real point of the book which is the reasons why she committed suicide.