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A review by spinstah
The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries by Marilyn Johnson
5.0
This was a wonderful read. I actually have a signed copy of this, purchased last year at the Maryland Library Association conference, at which Johnson spoke about her newer book, "This book is overdue!" What was really interesting was reading The Dead Beat knowing that it inspired her next book, as she stated she had a lot of help from libraries and librarians in compiling her work.
In any case, Johnson takes us into the weird and hyper-literate world of obituaries. We meet some of the obituarists who are considered to be among the best in the trade, hear above the inevitable message boards devoted to the topic, and find out how obituaries have morphed throughout the years. Sprinkled throughout are excerpts from fabulous obituaries about all kinds of people, written with care and an eye towards highlighting the weird and interesting things about every one of us. I highly recommend this if you are at all the curious type, or just like reading little jewels of lovely prose and scathingly subtle humor.
In any case, Johnson takes us into the weird and hyper-literate world of obituaries. We meet some of the obituarists who are considered to be among the best in the trade, hear above the inevitable message boards devoted to the topic, and find out how obituaries have morphed throughout the years. Sprinkled throughout are excerpts from fabulous obituaries about all kinds of people, written with care and an eye towards highlighting the weird and interesting things about every one of us. I highly recommend this if you are at all the curious type, or just like reading little jewels of lovely prose and scathingly subtle humor.