|
|
|
|
|
The Portable Obituary:
How the Famous, Rich and Powerful Really Died.
Will be released
in September 2007, published by 
.
Order Advance
Copies NOW! |
|
|
This book is a fun roundup of a lot of lives, and a handy companion for those
times when you're wondering, "Whatever happened to...?"
- The Associated
Press
"The Portable Obituary:
How the Famous, Rich and Powerful Really Died" (HarperCollins, $14.95)
is odd and oddly interesting. It seems author Michael Largo has made something
of a hobby, or perhaps an obsession, collecting at times arcane information
on death styles. He's also author of "Final Exits: The Illustrated History
of How We Die." This is the kind of book that raises questions you might
not think to ask. Such as, "Who lives longer: artists or clowns?" Or, "Why
do many celebrities die within two weeks of their birthdays?" At any rate,
any book that twins Duane Allman in the same section as Archimedes can be
said to be original
- New York Daily
News
I've always had
a morbid fascination with how some historical figures and celebrities died,
so when I came across The Portable Obituary, I was absolutely delighted with
what I found within its pages. If, like me, you have a morbid fascination
for facts and trivia about the deaths of famous people, or if you're just
curious about the details of some of your favorite celebrities such as Elvis
Presley or Katherine Hepburn, you should definitely get this book. Michael
Largo has done his research well; The Portable Obituary tells you all you
ever wanted to know about how the famous, rich, and powerful really died.
It's the ultimate collector's item for the morbidly curious, and countless
hours will be spent with your nose stuck firmly between the pages of this
book.
- BlogCritics: Betty Wong
|
|
|
|
|
Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia
of How We Die will be released in October 2006, published by
.
Order Advance Copies NOW!
|
|
|
CATEGORY: Popular Culture
ISBN: 0-06-081741-0
ISBN-13: 978006081741
|
|
Playboy
--November 2006 "Ways to Go" Featured Afterhours/Raw
Data
Entertainment
Weekly-- New in Paperback-Recommended October 20, 2006
MAXIM
Deaths from A-Z --Featured
October
18, 2006
“Here
is a sampling of excerpts (trust us, there are tons more in this amazingly
entertaining book) of the things for you to look out for if you feel the
Grim Reaper creeping around your door.”
Chicago Sun-Times
Reading just
one more item in Final Exits, then another, then still another, is as compulsive
as eating peanuts or popcorn, and the foregoing is but a tiny sample of its
frequently stunning contents. You would not believe the places human beings
choose to stick small, furry animals -- quite often as their last act on
this planet. To extol the practical value of his work, the author writes,
"I predict that those who buy this book will gain -- at the minimum -- an
average of two extra years of life." And think how much more the gain
could be if they actually read it.--Roger K. Miller, a former newspaper book
review editor, is a free-lance writer, reviewer and editor.
Chicago Tribune
Recommended October 29, 2006
Kansas City Star
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/entertainment/15913963.htm
Santa Cruz Sentenil
http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2006/November/05/style/stories/02style.htm
Philadelphia Inquirer
10/30/06
For those looking for the most arcane methods of
bucket-kicking, Final Exits has plenty of stories on tap. It's not
a good idea to lick a toad, for example, because bufotenine, the animal's
venom, can cause chest pains, nausea, hallucinations and (in 1,925 instances
since 1958) death. Riding in a hot-air balloon, dressing in orange camouflage
for deer season, and the onrush of a bowling ball have accounted for a smattering
of fatalities, while one poor soul will always be remembered as the boy who
suffered the literal version of Death by Chocolate.
Shock value and humor are delivered in a consistent
manner thanks to side-splitting anecdotes, twitch-inducing gravestone inscriptions,
and grotesque illustrations (many unearthed in voluminous archives), but
Final Exits doesn't neglect the more somber
overtones.
By treating his subject with genuine curiosity instead
of overarching irony, Largo has fashioned a quirky gem that can be reread
periodically to remind ourselves that, as folk singer Bob Gibson once sang,
no matter what you do to avoid life's ultimate fate, you're "still gonna
die."--- Sarah Weinman
Jane
Magazine See review janemag.com
10/20/06
Fort Worth Star-Telegram 10/15/06
Ever
feel like you could die of a broken heart? Apparently you can. "Nostalgia"
was listed as the cause of death on 31,987 death certificates between the
years 1766 and 1910. The inventor of the safety pin died of an accidental
pin stick that got infected and turned gangrenous. A 19-year-old diabetic
died of an overdose of chocolate (no, his blood sugar didn't get too high;
he drowned in a vat of the melted stuff). And a 20-year-old man whose skin
would break out in hives whenever water touched it died when he was caught
in a sudden rainstorm.
Who
knew death could be so fun? Writer Michael Largo did, and for 10 years he's
been collecting anecdotes about quirky fatalities and statistics about the
way people die. He's poured it all into his new book, Final Exits: The
Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die. It's perfect Halloween reading
-- just don't read the section on Halloween deaths till Nov. 1.
-- Cathy
Frisinger, Special to the Star-Telegram BOOK
Review: GRADE: A
Arizona Tuscon Citizen
Included in ‘Recommended
New Titles’
October
5, 2006
Sarasota Herald Tribune "A lively
look at how we die. "
Mortuary Management
Review
“Funeral directors, along with medical
and forensic professionals, know more about death than just about anyone,
but even they could not know as much about dying as is complied in this eye-opening
book Final Exits…Final Exits will keep you engaged and entertained.
Quad-City Times
Top
nonfiction
“Final Exits” — A quirky,
fun (but never morbid) look at the ways we die. This book is a trivia buff’s
paradise and something you can buy for the person who claims he “never reads,”
because he’ll read this.
Miami New
Times
Death by heart failure, car accident, or even electrocution is so last millennium.
We want to go out with a bigger, more original bang, such as spontaneous
combustion (215 deaths) or roller coasters (265 deaths). But where to find
a vast selection of methods of departure for our choosing? Enter Final Exits: The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of How We Die, by Michael Largo. This well-researched
companion to entrances to the afterlife offers everything you would ever
want to know about kicking the bucket, from falling furniture (17,983 deaths)
to masturbation (3761 annually, though usually when employing the aid of
a foreign object, such as a vacuum cleaner, zucchini, or hair dryer) to frozen
toilets. (Okay, really hypothermia, but wouldn’t you rather see “Frozen Toilet”
on your death certificate?) And if you’re thinking about smoking your way to
the grave via blunts and water bongs, think again. There are no known deaths
from cannabis poisoning. Joey Doud
Blog Crtic Book Review
- Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopedia of How We Die by Michael Largo
-- Roberta Rosenberg/Blogcritic.org.
Can someone actually die of happiness?
I didn't find happiness listed in the new book, Final Exits: The Illustrated
Encyclopedia of How We Die, but I did find hundreds of other documented
ways that folks like you and me "kick the bucket", "sleep with the fishes",
and "buy the farm". This is addictive, fascinating and lively reading (yes,
I did say "lively") about the American way of death and dying that you're
going to thoroughly enjoy.
The more advanced the technology, the more ways to kill or be killed.
Did you know that in 1700 there were less than 100 causes of death and that
today there are 3,000? Me either, but you'll learn this and a lot more as
Final Exits details the many ways we die. Alphabetically organized, this
engaging sourcebook of death begins with a straightforward retelling of the
history of "Abactio ... the medical term for abortion or premature labor
induced by street drugs, herbal concoctions or homestyle surgery" and concludes
with "Zoofatalism ... a psychological disorder in which the afflicted get
dangerously close to wild animals or keep wild animals as pets against better
judgment." (Ouch ... can you say Siegfried & Roy?) The in-between is
packed with well-researched information told with a dry, wry touch.
If your interest is more macabre, you'll want to review the Serial Killers
entry. Final Exits devotes three pages to the likes of Son of Sam, Ted Bundy,
John Wayne Gacy and several other "Infamous Ass****s" (as lawmakers like
to refer to them.) And yes, because I know you want to know, there is the
requisite listing for Foreign Objects. Suffice it to say, you'll get a full
rundown of the stuff people stuff into various body parts with the obvious
lethal results. (Feel free to do your own jokes and commentary here.)
With more than 400 medical/historical photographs and artwork ... hundreds
of delightfully deadly little factoids of the "final crossing" ... humorous
and poignant epitaphs ... and a 46-page bibliography and source notes section,
Final Exits will keep you engaged and entertained as you skim through deaths
both commonplace and bizarre of folks both famous and ordinary.
Be amazed, be appalled, but by all means, have fun reading Final Exits. Look
for it this October (just in time for Halloween) and have a howling good
time!
|
|
|
|
|
“Convincing characters, brilliant dialogue...A
profusion of detailed descriptions celebrate life while, thematically, Largo
explores the mystery of death as transformation.” |
|
|
- Library Journal
|
|
|
“Efficient, realistic... Largo’s writing
manifests relentless and unremitting nerve.” |
|
|
- Publishers Weekly |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
