Grave Tidings: An Anthology of Famous Last Words

by Paul Berra (Editor)

Overview

"You see! This is how you die." - Coco Chanel

"Shoot straight, you bastards! Don't make a mess of it!" - Breaker Morant

"If any of you have a message for the devil, give it to me, for I am about to meet him!" - Lavinia Fisher

"I am dying. Please… bring me a toothpick. " - Alfred Jarry

Funny, reflective, scornful or delirious, we are fascinated by famous last words because, humanity in extremis, they seem to tell us something about ourselves. Featuring lovers, killers, artists, traitors, spies, rulers, poets and pariahs, this thoughtful volume brings together the hedonists and the fatalists, the pragmatists and the optimists in a collection of famous last utterances - and the stories behind them - from throughout history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781785901447
Publisher:	Biteback Publishing, Ltd.
Publication date:	10/04/2016
Sold by:	Bookwire
Format:	eBook
Pages:	300
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Paul Berra is a musician, writer and comedian, often prone to uttering 'last words' in moments of existential crisis. He will go down in history as the unfortunate who muttered the words 'I'm only here for the bier' at Malcolm McLaren's funeral.

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. The Hedonists: Drinkers, gourmands, libertines and the hopelessly entertaining
featuring Dylan Thomas, Jack Daniel, Niccolò Machiavelli and Oscar Wilde

2. Parting shots: Saints, spies, kings, killers, heroes and the irremediably unlucky
featuring Emperor Nero, Ethel Rosenberg, Giles Corey and Ned Kelly

3. The Optimists: Dreamers, wishful thinkers and the terminally unprepared
featuring Charles Darwin, Ludwig van Beethoven, Seamus Heaney and Ayrton Senna

4. The Pragmatists: Stoics, realists, fatalists and the incurably unimpressed
featuring Captain Lawrence Oates, Winston Churchill, Laurence Olivier and Alexander the Great

5. The Visionaries: Mystics, thinkers, legends and the downright inspirational
featuring Amelia Earhart, Che Guevara, John Wayne and Leonardo da Vinci