|
The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries
Marilyn Johnson
#UB1622
Paperback, 244 pages; 2007 (2006)
$13.95
 Members' Price: $11.86
Selma Koch, a Manhattan store owner who earned a national reputation by helping women find the right bra size, mostly through a discerning glance and never with a tape measure, died Thursday at Mount Sinai Medical Center. She was 95 and a 34B.——from an obituary by Douglas Martin in the New York Times
Writer/editor Marilyn Johnson views obituaries as "history as it is happening," and faithfully scours them for "the secret of a good life." Full of warmth and humor, The Dead Beat is an enthusiastic celebration of the obituary. Johnson dissects the obit's form (elements include "the comma," "the tombstone," "the song and dance," "the friar," "the desperate chronology" and "the lifeboat"); profiles great obituary writers and editors, both past and present; and shares miscellaneous insights, as well as favorite clips (see above). The so-called "perverse pleasures of obituaries" make for a deeply satisfying and surprisingly joyful read!
(CH)
|
