Review | Book review: Final Chapters - light-hearted look at famous authors' deaths
Killed by a turtle on the head, heart eaten by a cat, blood poisoning from a toothpick; Jim Bernard takes a respectful, but humorous look at writers’ mortality
by Jim Bernhard
Skyhorse Publishing
3.5 stars
A person’s life is always more important than his or her death – but no one reads an obituary or biography without wanting to know how the subject died. Jim Bernhard gives a respectful nod to the understandable fascination most of us have with death in this collection of essays about the ends authors have come to.
To his credit, he includes in each essay some of what the person in question said or wrote about death, giving us insight into his or her personal philosophies and fears.
Aeschylus an Ancient Greek playwright was killed by a turtle dropped on his head by a vulture.