Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious

For those who never miss the obits, this odd little compendium of true suicide stories from author Strauss (The Joy of Funerals, Have I Got a Guy for You) may scratch a certain itch. Focusing mainly on creative types-writers, actors, musicians and artists-Strauss strikes a genial tone infused with plenty of gallows humor; Sylvia Plath's tale is amended with a breezy sidebar on the troubled poet's method of self-execution, an oven fueled by coal gas: ""Cheaper than pills, easier than hanging, and less messy than the remnants from a gunshot, death by coal was quick, painless, and, most important, easily accessible."" Strauss's giddy enthusiasm for the topic manifests in easy jokes and glib chapter titles (""Not the Suite Life: Ten Hotel Suicides""), as well as lists of facts that read dangerously close to DIY instruction. One can almost forgive the relentlessly upbeat tone, however, as the book proves hopelessly dreary, even for the most morbid of tabloid-readers.