The Big Sleep: True Tales and Twisted Trivia about Death (Hardcover)

~ (Author), JoAnn Baker (Author) "SO, how do you want to go?..." (more)
Key Phrases: human combustion, lost words, big sleep, United States, New York, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Answering our seemingly inexhaustible fascination with death, Orloff and Baker offer a slim compendium of facts, observations, lists, and general oddments. Particularly noteworthy are a point-by-point, chronological guide to the physical effects death wreaks on the unembalmed human corpse, pop quizzes on grave topics, and more euphemisms for death than one could work into a year's worth of conversation without risking characterization as some kind of obsessive. Withall, this is a lighthearted collection of morbid minutiae--similar, perhaps, to the novelty best-seller of many years ago, 101 Uses for a Dead Cat, but definitely more informative. Of course, lots of the information is anecdotal, and the bibliography includes sources mildly fraudulent (e.g., Ripley of "Believe It or Not" fame) and professionally skeptical (e.g., James Randi), but those things indicate the kind of eclectic fun the little book affords. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

A fun and wacky look at the one thing in life we can't escape! These true tales and twisted trivia about death cover serial killers, vampires, and ghosts. Facts you wouldn't know, and death tales you shouldn't know make for an eerie read that may keep you up at night!

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Gramercy (June 4, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0517220482
• ISBN-13: 978-0517220481
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,864,592 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Cutesy, and wrong in places, May 20, 2003

By	Miranda Prince "Punky Monkey" (USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is an entertaining enough book to keep in the bathroom, but it's written in a cutesy style that I found off-putting. (I expected and wanted it to be witty, but the authors frequently settled for jokiness.)

Some of the facts are wrong -- for example, they perpetuate the myth that Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in the car wreck that killed her. She wasn't. In other places, there's just not enough information. They mention China's "Festival of the Hungry Dead," but instead of explaining what it is we get two paragraphs on how China's communist regime prevented the celebration of religious holidays. Snooze.

This book is cute, but for a more entertaining and in-depth exploration of death, check out Paradox Press's "The Big Book of Death" ...

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Till death do us part.... literally, April 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Sleep: True Tales and Twisted Trivia About Death (Paperback)

I could not put this book down! Went through it in one sitting and I go back to it and read it again and again. When I'm not reading it, friends and family are always borrowing it. Full of facts and funnies.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cover to cover, you'll be fascinated and amazed with death., November 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Big Sleep: True Tales and Twisted Trivia About Death (Paperback)

Do you have any thoughts on how you will leave this Earth? After reading this book, you will most certainly question the thought. You will read and re-read chapters with such curiosity. Examples of freak accidents, gruesome serial slayings, Mother Nature, plagues and epidemics, poltergiest, genocide, and Spontaneous Human Combustion just name a few of the documented stories covered. This light-hearted book is full of death stories, ancient traditions, and phenomina. If nothing else, you'll be wondering how you will go. As it is, all life does come to an end. Oh yeah - interested in learning what happens to a body within the first few weeks of death? Check it out!