What a Way to Go: Fabulous Funerals of the Famous and Infamous (Paperback)

~ Adele Brown (Author) "Josephine Baker was born in St. Louis Missouri, as Freda Josephine MacDonald, an illegitimate child of an African American mother..." (more)
Key Phrases: silent tribute, honorary pallbearers, New York, United States, World War (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A&E Biography meets Tales from the Crypt in this fun but respectful survey of the amazing lives and astonishing funerals of two dozen twentieth-century icons from politics, art, and pop culture. In more than 50 rare photographs and thoroughly researched profiles, What a Way to Go showcases all the colorful details of each subject's death, funeral service, and burial. From Muppet creator Jim Henson's upbeat service, attended by Big Bird, to Babe Ruth lying in state at Yankee Stadium as vendors sold hot dogs to waiting mourners--it's all here, the moving and the macabre. JFK, Notorious B.I.G., Elvis Presley, Chairman Mao, Eva Peron, the Ayatollah Khomeini, and many more find fitting tribute in this compulsively readable, visually lavish, richly entertaining celebration of our enduring fascination with the famous and the strange pageantry of their demise.

About the Author

Adele Q. Brown is a New York-based researcher and writer. This is her first book.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (February 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081182750X
• ISBN-13: 978-0811827508
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,058,949 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting, sometimes macabre, with great photos, August 11, 2002

By	audrey (white mtns) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

Amazon Verified Purchase

Subtitled "Fabulous Funerals of the Famous and Infamous", this interesting book presents information in a set format about 24 luminaries and their final rites. Each chapter begins with the person's nickname, dates of birth and death, a quote and a picture. Vital statistics are presented -- the age and cause of death, survivors left behind and other close brushes with death. A multi-page synopsis of the person's life is given, followed by a lengthy description of the funeral preparation and service, including what objects the person was buried with, and the headlines of the day. Printed on heavy paper, the design is very nice and the photographs are plentiful and of high quality. The people discussed are: Josephine Baker, Sarah Bernhardt, Winston Churchill, Salvador Dali, Thomas Edison, Mahatma Gandhi, Jim Henson, Grace Kelly, JFK, Ayatollah Khomeini, Martin Luther King, Jr., Marilyn Monroe, Notorious B.I.G., Eva Peron, Edith Piaf, Pope John Paul XXIII, Elvis Presley, FDR, Babe Ruth, Diana Spencer, Joseph Stalin, Igor Stravinsky, Rudolph Valentino and Mao Zedong. This is a great book to leave out for browsing, filled with great photos and interesting facts. I was very happy when I received it. Very nicely done.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Death Revisited, August 31, 2002

By	gail powers "Gail" (Homewood, IL United States) - See all my reviews

Call this 'Death and Burial Rites of the Celebrated'. This is an interesting take on the funeral rites of many famous people. I won't go into detail because this has already been done more than adequately in the first customer review. I was particularly fond of the manner in which the material was presented. I felt that the written accounts of the funeral rites discussed within presented a verbally visual sense of being there.
The subjects discussed were from quite diverse levels of celebrity. The information presented was in some cases as much reflective of the historical time frame during which they occurred as well as the individuals being honored.
This was a very interesting exhumation of information long buried and forgotten.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chaos in the Cemetery!, October 31, 2002

By	TundraVision (o/~ from the Land of Sky Blue Waters o/~) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

There was chaos in the cemetery of Elvis internment. Riots at Rudy's mortuary! And then there was that nasty business of Eva Peron's globe-trotting body.

This is the perfect Halloween Coffee Table (or Coffin Top - if that's how one decorates for the Holiday) Book. The author tells tales of two dozen dearly departed and how they got there. At The Beginning of each End, she gives "Vital Statistics" varyingly including age at and cause of death, survivors, previous "close calls," and "Last Words" ("I'm so bored with it all" Sir Winston Churchill, "I'm going into the bathroom to read" Elvis Presley) There are other headlines at the time of death, concise and interesting bios, and, of course, details of funerals and send-offs. It includes many glossy black and white photos.

The book notes questionable cause (or perpetrator) of death for Marilyn Monroe and Martin Luther King, Jr. but then ascribes JFK's death to the lone gunman, Lee Harvey Oswald. When Pigs fly! And, speaking of pigs, Muppets sang at Jim Henson's memorail service, at which no one wore black. Reviewed by TundraVision