Obituaries Books

I had grown so tired of being disappointed in cookie cutter novels about women and friendship. As if it were a hot topic du jour and authors were just jumping on the bandwagon. This was a GOOD BOOK. An unlikely friendship, humor, heartache and women finding themselves and their strength.
Ms Friddle has set a high standard for herself, I look forward to the next one.

if you are looking for something different , Mindy Fiddle does it in this story. Its an easy read, easy to follow characters and you feel a sense of being there with the story. It was fun to read and worth every penny.. dont miss out on this one .Nicole

In the Garden Angel - Ms. Friddle carefully weaves a story with intricate detail and character. She illustrates how people's lives are oftentimes multi-faceted, secretive and how relationships are compromised, stretched and redefined.

This is a story of a young woman seeking to keep her family's estate together, of another woman seeking to keep her husband, and theats that they both must overcome.

Ms. Friddle illustrates that life isn't always fair or just, that sometimes we are not dealt the best hand but that we must play the game with the cards that we have been given. We must learn how to make lemonade out of Lemons. And in essence to live a life in "San Souci" -- which in French means "Without (San) worry (Souci)".

Southerners will feel right at home with this quirky novel. Its eccentric characters could fit right into our own family scrapbooks, and its reverence for the past and suspicion of the encroaching future pose a conflict being played out across the length and breadth of Dixie-and might even be encapsulated in our ambivalence nowadays toward using the word "Dixie" as a synonym for the South.
Just outside of Palmetto, S.C., in the small town of Sans Souci, Cutter Johanson lives in a dilapidated mansion that houses the comforting ghosts of her ancestry. The urban sprawl of Palmetto, which is a thinly disguised Greenville, threatens to engulf the small town that has been home to Cutter's family for generations, but an even more immediate threat is that the death of Cutter's grandmother has brought the house up for sale. Desperate to keep the old home place, Cutter goes to great lengths to sabotage efforts to sell it, but she knows she is fighting a losing battle. Her sister Ginny, "the pretty one," and brother Barry, away in service, are eager to sell, and Cutter, though working two jobs, both menial, can not afford to buy them out.
Enter a kind of Delphic fate: Ginny, a college student, is having an affair with a teacher, Daniel Byers, and is pregnant by him. His aggrieved wife Elizabeth is an emotional cripple whose agoraphobia and panic attacks keep her a virtual prisoner in her home, significantly a run-of-the-mill subdivision ranch house. Not least, Elizabeth's main affliction is a husband so caring that he seems to have an unhealthy need for his wife to remain a cripple. Stir into that mix an anonymous telephone tip to the unsuspecting wife, and a solution to Cutter's problem that she could never have imagined is set in motion.
The attentive reader will see it coming when Elizabeth somehow manages to summon the strength to venture out and knock on the Johansons' front door. When Cutter answers the door, the die is cast: Two oddballs, one strong, one weak, come face to face, and the reader, recognizing their compatibility right away even if they don't, knows that they will wind up with each other when the dust has cleared-though in what arrangement is a nice, and logical, surprise.
The story of how all this happens is highly readable and, for the most part, deliciously written. Ms. Friddle's prose shines, especially with apt and poetic similes--but she comes awfully close to overdoing a good thing: Too many similes can be tiring and come across finally as the same artistic trick done too often to retain its freshness or, worse, as a kind of misdirection. Not for nothing did Gertrude Stein advise writers that in describing something it is usually better to say what a thing is than what it is like, i.e. "A rose is a rose is a rose."

Just finished reading The Garden Angel.....and really dragged out those final pages, because I didn't want it to end!
Wonderful debut novel with prose that flows, characters that made me feel like I knew them personally and Friddle displayed a terrific sense of place.
I highly recommend this novel and honestly have to say it's been ages since I enjoyed a story as much as this one. Down-to-earth and believable. Do yourself a favor and read this one. My only regret is I'm going to miss Cutter, Elizabeth, Alfred and the rest of the cast. Very much looking forward to Friddle's next novel.

This is a great book. Everyone who is dealing with or has delt with the loss of someone should read this book! It will help them.

this book was great..this book should be read by everyone who has delt or is dealing with death

This book contains 50 eulogies (Rupert Brooke by Winston Churchill, Malcolm X by Ossie Davis, Robert Kennedy by Edward Kennedy, etc.); 42 letters of condolence (Herman Hesse to Thomas Mann, James Michener to his friends, RAF pilot to his mother, etc.); 50 elegies (songs or poems, by Langston Hughes, Emily Bronte, Noel Coward, etc.); and 110 epitaphs from the graves of Thomas Jefferson, T.S. Eliot, Hilaire Belloc and others -- my favorite:
"Here lies Jane Smith, wife of Thomas Smith, Marble cutter./Monuments of the same style, $350."

The selections are touching, and although it would have been nice to have name and location information about the epitaphs, the book is still an eloquent tribute to one of life's most difficult times.

Ms. Harris shows uncommon sensitivity in her choice of authors. I was moved to tears of joy and sorrow on several occasions. Without a doubt Ms Harris's work will rank as one of the most thoughful and provocative volumes of how we, as human beings, deal with grief and ultimately move on.

This is a great book. Everyone who is dealing with or has delt with the loss of someone should read this book! It will help them.

I teach Memoir Writing to local seniors and I routinely use this book as an example of outstanding biography. It's one thing to write a 250 word bio but quite another, and much more demanding, to pen a few-hundred-word last goodbye to someone and do it with panache. The NY Times has three books of obituaries, this is the most recent. The quality of the writing is, in many cases, superior to anything in the rest of the newspaper(all the obits here were published in the Times). I especially like the reviews of Robert McG Thomas, who died within the past year at age 60. His obituaries deserved a Pulitzer. His obits are worth the price of the book. Everybody deserves a last word. These obits are not just about famous people but about average joes and janes who have been extraordinary human beings. I'd even recommend this book for spiritual reading because the lives here are inspirational. I teach writing and am always on the lookout for examples of prose that will knock my socks off. This is one helluva book.

Rather than an ode to death, this book cherishes lives onced lived by all kinds of people. Whether brilliant or simple, rich or poor, actions great or discreet, each of the people written about contributed to society in a meaningful (and often surprising) way. Equally outstanding are the authors of these obituaries, whose writing talents manage to entertain, educate and move the reader deeply without being maudlin. Even more importantly, this book forces us to examine our own lives: what will people say about us when we've faced our Maker? For those of us who come up pitifully short, this book inspires even the common man to contribute to society, and strive for -- and hopefully, attain -- spiritual immortality.

You wouldn't think a book of obituaries would be entertaining, but it is when the obits are well-written and celebrate the lives and characters of the 100+ people found in this collection. The subjects are most often unknown to the majority of us, but the various authors (including well-known NYT obituary author Robert McG. Thomas, Jr.) humanize each subject and inspire you to contemplate your own life. Most essays are a couple of pages long, and there is an introduction by Russell Baker.

A delightful collection of lives which I read cover to cover in one sitting. Offers a fascinating glimpse of la comedie humaine--often witty, sometimes sad, always remarkable.

I was turned onto this book when it was selected for the Book-of-the-Month Club--I cannot recommend it enough to anyone interested in the lives of others. A great gift.

In our celebrity-obsessed culture, in which bland, no-talent know-nothing windbags like "Dharma and Greg's" Jenna Elfman are considered national treasures and given lengthy pseudo-important profiles in glossy magazines, it is refreshing to read about lives that actually have meaning; about people who commit their lives to doing interesting things for others and for themselves; people whose lives take amazing twists of fate, people who find themselves in extraordinary circumstances and react in ways that no one could predict. The genius of this book is that it covers not the obvious obits of international icons like, say, John Lennon or Richard Nixon, but people whom you may have never heard of, such as the inventor of kiddy litter or the great bluesman Willie Dixon. And they are written not as morbid reflections on death, but as the book's subtitle says "celebrations of life." The Last Word also holds the important distinction of being the greatest bathroom book I have ever read. Why not put it in your own john?

Well, this is definitely a page turner and a flip through and a go back and read again and share and tell people they just have to read it.

Imagine, so many wrote their last words poetically. Some wrote pages while others wrote short. "I demand a recount." "Mispronounced dead on arrival." And perhaps you'll guess who wrote one word "Imagine!"

My absolute favorite, laugh out loud epitath--

When my time on earth is done
And I have breathed my last
I want them to bury me upside down
So my critics can kiss my ass

This is definately one of the most entertaining reads all year.
The telling, moving, and sometimes hilarious reflections kept me turning the page. It was tough for me to put down! This book is a real treasure. Debbie Farmer, author of 'Don't Put Lipstick on the Cat'

This book is built on an interesting idea. Larry King asks three- hundred people, most of them American celebrities from the worlds of sports, entertainment, business, journalism, music, comedy, writing ,acting, politics, science and education what message they would leave behind and wish to be remembered by.
Some take this lightly and answer in a quick one- liner or even a word- some seem overly burdened by their own importance, but many hit ' right notes' and quite a few have a real humor.
This is the kind of work which one skims, jumps back and forth in, looking for something interesting. Most are misses, but some are scores, and it is the scores that make the book worthwhile.
A few examples follow which I found of some value.

" For years I've been claiming ,"I'm only human. I'm only human." Maybe now you'll believe me." SHELLY BERMAN

" I hope I see you later." MAUREEN STAPLETON

"He did his best when no one was watching." BOB COUSY

"Jim who?' JIM BOUTON

" I want to be remember as a good guy one who always helped others in need. JOE FRAZIER


" The best is yet to come." BEVERLY SILLS

" He was never boring. He said out loud what others whispered. He challenged authority; the higher the authority, the stronger the challenge. He made the legal system more acceptable to the public He taught thousands of students and educated even more readers and viewers.He listened best with his mouth open. He was fun to be with. He was never boring.All this without knowing how to use a computer. ALAN DERSHOWITZ

I was among the saddest to hear of Larry King's passing in 1987. I had long been a fan of his nonsensical ramblings in USA Today and knew that I might miss those columns unless they replaced it with something superior like a Jumble or a Suduko puzzle. Imagine my surprise to see him on CNN almost 20 years later. Alive ... well sort of alive. Was he cryogenically thawed out? Let this be a warning to all of you in frozen states ... it does NOT always work out.

And this book is just fabulous, a collection of self-serving, inane babblings by the assistants of famous people. Because famous people most certainly do not have the time to write such heartfelt and sincere passages ... they're just not capable of it. It's outside their skill set. So don't be angry with them, just accept them for who they are ... famous friends of Larry King, columnist, talk show host, suspenders-wearer.

When you pass on from this life, what would you want people to say about you? Larry King asked that question of over 300 celebrities, and the result is "Remember Me When I'm Gone," a fascinating compendium of epitaphs and obituaries penned by the still living about themselves. The celebrities include actors, authors, business people, journalists, artists, musicians, politicians, and scientists. The contributions run the gamut: funny, spiritual, laudatory, biographical, comforting, witty, and philosphical. Appropriately enough, there are some song lyrics from songwriters, cartoons from cartoonists, comic epitaphs from comedians, and poetry from writers. Fred Rogers composed his contribution before his death, when he knew he was seriously ill. Larry King provided his own epitaph as well. It was tough for me to select a few examples from so many interesting contributions, but here goes:

Joanna Barnes: At Last - A Parking Space!
Arnold Schwarzenegger: I had fun.
Ted Turner: I have nothing more to say.
Beverly Sills: The best is yet to come.
Robin Leach: Hi, this is Robin Leach standing outside the pearly gates!
Jim Davis: I would like to be remembered as someone who was extremely old.
Dr. Laura Schlessinger: How arrogant to write your own epitaph.

This book displays a lot of wit and wisdom on a sobering topic, and I recommend it as an entertaining and enlightening read.

Eileen Rieback

In this book, Jean Long introduces us to Chinese calligraphy. As he explains, even though "calligraphy" only means "words written by hand", to the Chinese it is an art with a long history. He affirms that "the characters not only convey the language of thought but also, in a visual way, the artistic beauty of the thought".

In the introduction to "The Art of Chinese calligraphy", the author says that the purpose of the book is allowing the readers to delight in the intrinsic beauty of Chinese calligraphy, even if they haven't yet mastered the Chinese language. Also, J. Long points out that in this book he provides the instructions that allow the readers who want to try their hands at Chinese calligraphy to do so. The instructions include a step by step guide to using the necessary equipment, and all that is needed to learn the different brushwork techniques. Finally, he also expresses his hope that "a greater understanding of the art of Chinese calligraphy will provide a clearer insight into the character of the Chinese people themselves".

The book is very well divided into interesting chapters that are easy to read and contain a lot of information even though they aren't overly long. The 1st chapter is titled "The development of Chinese calligraphy", and deals with the history of this art. It is worthwhile mentioning that this chapter and all the others include many useful illustrations, specially photographs (for example, a photograph of a ritual vessel from the 10th century BC, inscribed with characters). The 2nd chapter, "Chinese calligraphy as an art form", explains how it developed to an art form, from the merely functional act of writing. The 3rd chapter is "Language as a way to the understanding of Chinese thought", and the 4th is "The calligraphic seal". Chapters 5 and 6 deal with "Chinese porcelain and ceramics" and "Inscriptions on paintings" respectively, and chapter 7 centers on "Chinese painting equipment and how to use it". Lastly, chapter 8 is about "The techniques of Chinese calligraphy".

When I bought this book I was not exceedingly interested in attempting Chinese calligraphy, but I wanted to know more about it and the importance it has for Chinese culture. I decided to buy "The Art of Chinese calligraphy" because I considered it would be able to answer my questions... And thankfully, I was right!. This book is a great introduction to the subject, and it is highly likely to be useful not only to artists but also to readers like me who don't want to paint but love to learn about other cultures.

On the whole, I think this book is a keeper, and I highly recommend it :)

Belen

This book covers Chinese calligraphy very well. You can gain an appreciation for both the mechanics of calligraphy technique as well as the artistic look of the finished product. Dover Publications has done a good job with this well illustrated book.

The book was informative and a pleasure to read.

Chinese calligraphy is a mammoth subject with thousands of years of history. In addition, calligraphy in Chinese culture has achieved a recognition and respect as an art form that has never been matched by its Western counterparts. Jean Long has written a very readable book that provides an excellent overview to the history of Chinese writing from the tortoise shell oracle bones through bronze inscriptions, pottery vases and, of course, calligraphic scrolls. Also, the author provides basic instructions for how to hold a brush, grind ink, and write a few characters on your own. Given the breadth of the material, the author covers it well, but this book, on account of its brevity, serve as an introduction to whet your appetite. One would then look elsewhere to explore more deeply the various techniques and different calligraphic styles.

Jean Long's Art Of Chinese Calligraphy provides practical instruction in Chinese calligraphy, blending in historical background and explanations of how the characters are used in Chinese art. There's a healthy dose of background information on methods and development.

In "Our Journey is Our Work" Russell Shippee shares his own revealing wake up call which may cause you to have the most important awakening of your life! This is an important book filled with bite size digestible nuggets of wisdom that can truly be life-transforming.
Peggy McColl New York Times Best Selling Author of Your Destiny Switch [...]

This is a charming and easy to read guide to sifting through all that "stuff" that we encounter in our everyday lives. Lots of thought-provoking ideas!

If after reading this book, you aren't driven to evaluate your life and its purpose, then you have missed the core message of this book. It is a quick read filled with personal stories, insight, and thought provoking ideas that will leave you pondering your own personal state of affairs. An excellent read for anybody desirous of living their life in a more meaningful fashion.

Our Journey Is Our Work provides a wonderful understanding of how to reconcile the complicated and often confusing world of our secular life with our need to connect to a more meaningful spiritual life. The message that resonated over and over with me is that our fears and limitations are largely self-imposed and that our inner self, our "spiritual self", will provide answers to a better path if we only take time to listen. I found that the author provides a compelling yet compassionate perspective on how to travel this path.

STREET MONEY was mostly about new reporter Andy Cosicki, but happily STREET HUNGRY gives equal startime to Shep Ladderback, a virtuoso obituary writer who is wise and understanding of human nature yet tortured by anxieties that make him shut his eyes in panic when he's forced to venture out on the street. Kent backs up his well-drawn reporters with a host of other absurdly believable Philadelphia Characters. When individual oddities bring people together in outrageous situations, Bill Kent brings to mind Carl Hiaasen at his best. STREET HUNGRY was a delight from beginning to end.

Street Hungry is another book in the series with great characters, an obit writer and an eager (and we know beautiful) reporter, anmd daughter of Benny the Lunch (what a name!) who falls into stories and resolves them with spirit and wit. It's a terrific read. The prose is two cuts above what you get in the genre, you slip into the story and move through a well-developed atmosphere as you follow an intricate, absorbing and utterly believable plot. I'm eager for the next in the series!

With "Street Hungry," Bill Kent raises the bar. His writing style is getting more comfortable with each book, like a worn pair of jeans or a favorite lambswool sweater. His memorable characters border on the surreal, but in a homey, believable sort of way. Like an expert surgeon, Kent dissects the hearts and minds of his characters to let us view the inner workings that make them human. "Street Money," Kent's first Philadelphia based mystery was a joy to read, but with "Street Hungry," his prose reaches new levels of literary merit.
Bill Kent--keep the adventures of Andy Cosicki and Shep Ladderback coming.

On the streets of South Philly, "Weight" Wisnitz sells fruits and vegetables out of a truck at cut rate prices. He's been a fixture in the neighborhoods for years so when he suddenly keels over and dies, one of his regular customers thinks enough of him to call obituary writer Shep Ladderbook of the Philadelphia Press. Shep writes a nice obituary for the colorful man who made an impact so many lives.

A few days later, Ladderback's assistant, Andy Casicki is eating lunch with her mother at the upscale restaurant Loup-Garou when a famous restaurant critic keels over in the same manner as Wisnitz. Andy and Ladderback learn that there have been similar deaths in the city, which raises the obituary writer's curiosity. He investigates the deaths and learns that they lead back to a free clinic, an ambulance company that is always late delivering the bodies, and a generic drug company ready to go public.

STREET HUNGRY is a fascinating who-done-it with so many interrelated sub-plots that is takes the full length of the novel to finally understand how they are linked. The protagonist, a man who has been on top at the paper game for four decades, is a likable character whose contacts developed over forty years allow him to track a story back to its source. Bill Kent looks at the seamier side of life and turns it into a gritty and dark expose of the human condition.

Harriet Klausner

I have both Hollywood Album(1977) & Hollywood Album 2(1979). What the first book (with Monroe, Harlow, Fields, & many others) missed, the second book more than covers, up to its publication (Elvis, Crosby, Chaplin, & more). Its interesting also to see other major headlines of the news imposed on some of the front page obits.
These two books are like bibles to me and I re-read them when I get the chance and keep them in pristine condition with fabric bookcovers as well. I wished the New York Times would pick up the ball and run with follow-up editions.
Truly a must for those interested in reading famous obituaries!

This book (and its sequel) are the kind of volumes we just don't see anymore, sad to say. A superb and absorbing collection of film-star obits from the New York Times (1920s-70s), Hollywood Album is hard to put down. I do wish the Times would publish a large, one-volume collection of obits from their files, or that Variety would boil their immense obit collection down to one affordable book! Historians and film fans alike would snap it up.

Hollywood Album is a concise, easy-read. Since obituaries of notable persons are almost always prepared well before the person's death, these articles are well researched and very accurate. There is a handy "Filmography" at the end of the book listing, again, each notable personality and the movies in which they were involved (although I have found some of these lists not be totally complete).

An excellent find if you can locate this book. The last printing was in June, 1977 and the most "recent" obituary is Rosalind Russell's, who died in May, 1977.

"mourning wood". surly this guy realizes the joke. make sure to get the HARDcover version.

Paisner is consistently good. Whether he is writing one of his numerous celebrity biographies or a novel, his style and story keep you interested from page one. The characters in Mourning Wood are so innovative and interesting; they are a breath of fresh air from your standard pop culture fare. I believe this is the second novel of Paisner's and I can only hope that he turns more of his attention to fiction as both of these have been treats.

This is a great book. A real surprise. What a treat.
On the one hand, this is a tale of reinvention. It's a story about having (or having had) everything you wanted - and then still wanting to call a do-over.
On the other hand, it is hysterical. Sometimes it's hysterical in a laugh-out-loud sort of a way. Sometimes in a sneak-up-on-you-the-next-day-in-the-shower sort of a way. It is a biting, insightful look at pop culture through the lens of a one-time A-list Hollywood leading man who sees the opportunity to make himself relevant again - to himself and to the world, by dying. Sort of.

From the writer's bio it seems that he has written a number of books with celebrities. And that inside feel really comes across when you read this book. You have the feeling of getting into the mind and culture of someone who has lived his life under the watchful eye of the media and his adoring public. There's a kind of Being John Malkovich thing going here - as the writer brings you into the head of a Jack Nicholson kind of guy, and he's got the street cred and the chops to really pull it off. On the other side of the story is this kind of hapless, deadbeat newspaper obit writer - and the vivid accounts of his life and perspective, to often bitingly hilarious result.
I highly recommend this book.

This book is a collection of abstracts as published in the Methodist "Western Christian Advocate" 1834-1850. It is a rather specific reference book for use in family or church history research for midwestern states.

It is a very useful tool for those connected to the Methodist Church during the years 1834-1850.

This book is a must have for those who are researching their families with ties to the Methodist faith.
It is a huge hard cover book, fully indexed by name and by city/state. From midwest to the eastern states, it is truly a great resource.