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The Dead Beat
Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, And The Perverse Pleasures Of Obituaries
by Marilyn Johnson
Johnson, a journalist and obit writer herself, reveals everything you ever wanted to know about obituaries and the people who create them.
HarperCollins, 256 pages
03/01/2006
$24.95
ISBN: 0060758759
Nonfiction
Social Sciences
All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...
Publishers Weekly
Johnson handles her offbeat topic with an appropriate level of humor, while still respecting the gravity of mortality. [30 Jan 2006, p.57]
San Francisco Chronicle James Sullivan
In a sense -- and not to be too morbid about it (but hey, consider the subject) -- she has peremptorily crafted her own obituary by writing a dead-on minor classic that should outlive its author by a long margin.
The New York Times Book Review Jane and Michael Stern
Fascinating...Her delight in the subject is unabashed.
Village Voice Paul Collins
Marilyn Johnson's entertaining amble through this transformation ably spans everything from the Sixth Great Obituary Writers' International Conference to, inevitably, an obituarist's own funeral.
Wall Street Journal Jacques Kelly
The brief obit samples she quotes represent some of the best reading in this slim, elegant volume.
The Observer Simon Garfield
It's a fun, easy read (euphemism: 'I wouldn't necessarily drop everything to rush out and buy it, though').
Houston Chronicle Lynwood Abram
Enjoyable.
The New York Times Michiko Kakutani
A fetching book about obituaries? Well, yes: Ms. Johnson writes about obituaries with the zeal — and insight — of an avid obit fan.
New York Observer Sheelah Kolhatkar
Author Marilyn Johnson journeys deep into the death-writers’
strange world - probably in more detail than you ever thought you might want.
Entertainment Weekly Gregory Kirschling
In the best part of her cute little book, she brings to life great unsung obit writers in exactly the same way they've long done for the dead.
Booklist Vanessa Bush
Humorous, engaging, and informative. [1 Mar 2006, p.47]
Library Journal Joel W. Tscherne
She expresses proper reverence when necessary but generally keeps the subject light, with a humorous tone. [15 Feb 2006, p.125]
Kirkus Reviews
But like all obsessives, Johnson can be a bore; she endlessly enumerates the differences among various newspapers' styles, in particular the divide between the more reticent, euphemistic Americans and the saucy Brits, who throw spadefuls of scandal over the recently departed. [1 Feb 2006, p.121]
Boston Globe Tom Long
She writes with wit, though she sometimes lets her enthusiasm carry her away.
The Independent James Fergusson
Her book is a wacky, weird, rollicking read and she is particularly kind about The Independent. I can't help but feel at the end, however, a lurking disappointment.
Washington Post Matt Schudel
Johnson, who is a magazine writer and editor, understands the craft of obituaries and delights in the tantalizing fragments of history that they reveal. But sometimes, as when she devises silly names for an obituary's various elements, she's too clever by half.
The Onion A.V. Club Kyle Ryan
Her unlikely enthusiasm for the form makes the book work, keeping The Dead Beat a quick, generally entertaining read, even though it begins to drag before ending, naturally, with a chapter about the death of an obituary writer.
 The average user rating for this book is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 2 User Votes
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