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Extremely breezy book about the odd behaviors of the famous and infamous, this title is a misnomer, as it's much more about how these people lived than how they died. Really, it's a smooth Wikipedia-like collection of bios and bon-mots, grouped together in categories such as those who had rough starts with life, those who were incredibly optimistic, those who were very driven, etc. It's a smart, entertaining book that also is a breezy summer read. Highly recommended.

Some of the more interesting chapters to me were about Isaac Newton, Oliver Heaviside, Mary Seacole, H.G. Wells, Tallulah Bankhead (I'd known about the Lifeboat anecdote), Florence Nightingale, Epicurus, Emma Hamilton, Tesla and Karl Marx. Be aware that this book is purposely breezy, so although the authors touch on the racism and anti-Semitism, for example, of H.G. Wells and Henry Ford, they do not focus on them. You'll read a lot more about Wells's philandering and Ford's contributions to business instead. Though their more nasty behaviors are mentioned, it's brief. I recommend that you read more about each person, if you're inclined to do so. In fact, I recommend that you become inclined to do so. I did about Epicurus, someone I read in my undgrad days as part of my Philosophy Degree, but not too much since. I've got a set of books about philosophers in a nice case, and the books are still in great shape, and there he was...Glad I did, too.

Some really good pieces here, such as: Wilhelm von Humboldt: I am more and more convinced that our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we meet the events of life, then on the nature of those events themselves.

And, straight to the point: As a watchword for living, the old Lebanese proverb cannot be bettered: The one who is not dead still has a chance.

Yes, indeed.