Amazon.co.uk: The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries: Marilyn Johnson: Books

Product Description

Parade, March 5, 2006
...a smart, tart and often hilarious tiptoe through the tombstones.
--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

'The Observer'
"What will survive of us after death, apart from love? If we're
lucky, a good obit... A fun, easy read." --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

The pleasures of obituaries, 1 Jan 2007

By	Caroline Richmond (London, England.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Beat: The Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (Hardcover)

Obituary writers were once the Cinderellas of newspapers. Now we (I'm one myslef) are the stars. There has been an explosion of interest in these short biographies. The author of this book, Marilyn Johnson, used to write celebrity obits for Esquire annd other upmarket US magazines, and now she has taken a step back to look at eh process. This book is a delightful account of the highways nad byways of the deth-watch squad. I enjoyed it hugely.
It was first written for the US market, where it was a best seller. This edition has been customised for UK readers.

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Actually, I'd give it 4.9999 stars, 9 Dec 2006

By	Caroline Richmond (London, England.) - See all my reviews

Marilyn and I are both obituarists, and we met at an obituary writers conference in Las Vegas, New Mexico. We have similar tastes in a lot of things. She kindly gave me a copy of this book. First time round, I didn't read it very thoroughly.
Then I wrote an obituary of a yet another doctor. That's what I do. Afterwards, the deceased's son said he was relieved I hadn't done a hatchet job, as this book had led him to fear exactly that. So I read the book again. Lo! I am in it. It says I am a tough skinned Brit who, recovering from 2 types of lymphoma, get my revenge by writing medical obits. But revenge doesn't come into it; I like my doctors and owe them a lot. But I do try to be fair-minded, I do enjoy having the last word on high-profile doctors (almost all of whom have made the world a better place) and I think my oncologist can see the joke.
Well, this isn't a review of the book, but it's a good book, and you can take my word for it, and it comes with my complete recommendation. Buy it.

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Obituaries are the most fascinating articles in the newspaper - find out who writes them and how!, 4 Nov 2007

By	Inigo Kamachi "Avid reader" (Second Life) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Dead Beat: The Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (Hardcover)

Like a lot of people who read good newspapers, I always make sure to read the obit pages, but until I read this book, I hadn't thought much about who writes them or how they go about it. I also hadn't considered the history of the modern newspaper obituary, or its connection with the foundation of the Independent newspaper in London in the 1980s.

Marilyn Johnson apparently used to write them herself and is clearly fascinated by the whole subject. Her excitement shows through on every page. Not only is the book highly informative, but it quotes some of the greatest obituaries you are ever likely to come across.

This book is witty and funny, but also quite profound about the mystery of what sums up a human life and makes it worth commemorating.

This is one of the best books I've read in ages!

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