Customer Reviews

Strange deaths: More than 375 freakish fatalites

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a slim compilation of short summaries of the bizarre manners in which people have been killed over the years. It's a fun read, but it's sullied by the lazy manner in which the information is presented - short on historical detail or documentation to support the facts. The authors make no excuses and admit upfront that some of the items listed may be less than factual, which is something I can't forgive in a book like this. If only they'd taken the time to actually check out the stories, so that I knew that was I was reading was true, it would be so much more meaningful. Alas...

Although this book is about the manner in which people met their deaths, it does have an amusing side. With billions of people on the planet and all at some point facing death, it is natural that many of them would be rather bizarre. The oddest of all are some of the suicides, one of the most disturbing is the woman that killed herself by sawing herself in half lengthwise.
It is therapeutic to laugh at death and in some sense even to mock it, for if we didn't the reality and finality could overwhelm us. Life is to be enjoyed, so in an odd sort of way, reading this book is a way to enjoy life, because some of these circumstances are really strange. So unusual that occasionally even the author questions whether it is in fact just an urban myth.

I found it sad and funny, even if some of the stories may have been factual... The authors weren't going for thurough, so don't expect a crime novel in this book. But still very amusing!

facinating! brilliant! I read it 5 times!