The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (P.S.) - Softcover

9780060758769: The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries (P.S.)
View all copies of this ISBN edition:
 
 

Marilyn Johnson was enthralled by the remarkable lives that were marching out of this world—so she sought out the best obits in the English language and the people who spent their lives writing about the dead. She surveyed the darkest corners of Internet chat rooms, and made a pilgrimage to London to savor the most caustic and literate obits of all. Now she leads us on a compelling journey into the cult and culture behind the obituary page and the unusual lives we don't quite appreciate until they're gone.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

Review:
Once upon a time, journalism profs duly instructed their greenhorn grads to seek out community papers and the obit pages as logical entrance points into the world of newspaper reporting. Working for cash-strapped local papers allowed novices to practice writing everything from hard news to lifestyle features. Obituaries, meanwhile, were a rung on the ladder of major publications, albeit the lowest. The musty, dusty obit pages also traditionally hosted aging reporters put out to pasture. Not any more, argues Marilyn Johnson in her unabashedly knock-kneed love letter to the obit pages, The Dead Beat. Today, august publications like The New York Times, England's Daily Telegraph, Independent, and The Economist, and Canada's Globe and Mail use exalted members of the fourth estate to turn out smart, hip tributes to widespread, almost cultish, acclaim. Why? Because, as Johnson persuasively demonstrates in her book, truth is almost always stranger than fiction and a well-written, deeply researched obit is not only a vital historical record but a damn fine read over coffee and toast. "God is my assignment editor," cracks Richard Pearson of the Washington Post and if that isn't more interesting than what's going on in your city council chambers, author Johnson and those working the so-called Dead Beat don't know what is.

As Johnson explains in free-wheeling prose, today's obit writers are virtual folk heroes with global Internet followings and their own conventions. With care and an ear for gentle humor, Johnson guides her readers through the surprisingly structured, labyrinthine obit scene, pausing to meet the writers while pondering both the essence of our being and why, in the right hands, the life of an average Joe can be just as riveting as the shenanigans of a high-flying playboy. And infinitely more resonant. Savvy J-school professors and their students are advised to take heed. --Kim Hughes

About the Author:

Marilyn Johnson is a former editor and writer for Life, Esquire, and Outside magazines, and lives with her husband, Rob Fleder, in New York's Hudson Valley.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

  • PublisherHarper Perennial
  • Publication date2007
  • ISBN 10 0060758767
  • ISBN 13 9780060758769
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages272
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780060758752: The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780060758752
Publisher: Harper, 2006
Hardcover

  • 9780285638051: The Dead Beat: The Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

    Souven..., 2007
    Hardcover

  • 9780285637771: The Dead Beat: The Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries

    Souven..., 2006
    Hardcover

  • 9780739487327: The Dead Beat

    Harper..., 1786
    Softcover

Top Search Results from the AbeBooks Marketplace

Seller Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Soft Cover Quantity: 10
Seller:
booksXpress
(Bayonne, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780060758769

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 12.89
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial 2/1/2007 (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Paperback or Softback Quantity: 5
Seller:
BargainBookStores
(Grand Rapids, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback or Softback. Condition: New. The Dead Beat: Lost Souls, Lucky Stiffs, and the Perverse Pleasures of Obituaries 0.6. Book. Seller Inventory # BBS-9780060758769

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 13.41
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: 5
Seller:
GreatBookPrices
(Columbia, MD, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # 4347057-n

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 11.23
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 2.64
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lakeside Books
(Benton Harbor, MI, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New! Not Overstocks or Low Quality Book Club Editions! Direct From the Publisher! We're not a giant, faceless warehouse organization! We're a small town bookstore that loves books and loves it's customers! Buy from Lakeside Books!. Seller Inventory # OTF-S-9780060758769

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 10.34
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Books Unplugged
(Amherst, NY, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Buy with confidence! Book is in new, never-used condition. Seller Inventory # bk0060758767xvz189zvxnew

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 15.45
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Marilyn Johnson
Published by Harper Collins Publishers (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
INDOO
(Avenel, NJ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Brand New. Seller Inventory # 0060758767

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 11.49
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
Seller:
Lucky's Textbooks
(Dallas, TX, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. Seller Inventory # ABLING22Oct2018170000607

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 12.36
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 3.99
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Soft cover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Jake's Place Books
(Clarksville, TN, U.S.A.)

Book Description Soft cover. Condition: New. New and shiny!. Seller Inventory # ABE-1708548790410

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 12.50
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: US$ 4.25
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Stock Image

Johnson, Marilyn
Published by Harper Perennial (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Softcover Quantity: 1
Seller:
Book Deals
(Tucson, AZ, U.S.A.)

Book Description Condition: New. New! This book is in the same immaculate condition as when it was published. Seller Inventory # 353-0060758767-new

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 16.84
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds
Seller Image

Marilyn Johnson
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Inc (2007)
ISBN 10: 0060758767 ISBN 13: 9780060758769
New Paperback Quantity: 1
Seller:
Grand Eagle Retail
(Wilmington, DE, U.S.A.)

Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. A light-hearted look at the history and practice of "the ultimate human-interest story," the obituary."What a wonderful surprise--a charming, lyrical book about the men and women who write obituaries. The Dead Beat is sly, droll, and completely winning."-- David HalberstamWhere can readers celebrate the life of the pharmacist who moonlighted as a spy, the genius behind Sea Monkeys, the school lunch lady who spent her evenings as a ballroom hostess? The obituary page, of course. Enthralled by these fascinating former lives, Marilyn Johnson tumbled into the little known world of the obituary page to find out what made it so compelling. She sought out the best obits in the English language, and chased the people who spent their lives writing about the dead. Surveying Internet chat rooms, surviving a mass gathering of obituarists, and making the pilgrimage to London to savor the most caustic and literate obits of all, she leads us into the cult and culture behind this fascinating segment of our daily news. In wry and lucid prose, Johnson takes a mordantly funny look at the history and practice of "the ultimate human-interest story," the obituary. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780060758769

More information about this seller | Contact seller

Buy New
US$ 17.63
Convert currency

Add to Basket

Shipping: FREE
Within U.S.A.
Destination, rates & speeds

There are more copies of this book

View all search results for this book