The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

by Marilyn Johnson

4 of 5 stars 1 rating • 1 review • 2 shelved
Book cover for The Dead Beat
Shelve It

Bookhype may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. Full disclosure.

Obituaries are history as it is happening. Whose time am I living in? Was he a success or a failure, lucky or doomed, older than I am or younger? Did she know how to live? Where else can you celebrate the life of the pharmacist who moonlighted as a spy, the genius behind Sea Monkeys, the school lunch lady who spent her evenings as a ballroom hostess? No wonder so many readers skip the news and the sports and go directly to the obituary page. This book is the story of how these stories get told. Enthralled by the fascinating lives that were marching out of this world, Marilyn Johnson tumbled into the obits page to find out what made it so lively. She sought out the best obits in the English language and chased the people who spent their lives writing about the dead.--From publisher description.
  • ISBN10 0060758767
  • ISBN13 9780060758769
  • Publish Date 1 February 2007 (first published 28 February 2006)
  • Publish Status Active
  • Publish Country US
  • Imprint HarperCollins Publishers
  • Edition Annotated edition
  • Format Paperback (US Trade)
  • Pages 272
  • Language English