Final Chapters: How Famous Authors Died

by Jim Bernhard

“Everybody has got to die, but I have always believed an exception would be made in my case.” –William Saroyan, Pulitzer Prize–winning authorFamous authors, like everybody else, know that one day they will die. Final Chapters tells the fascinating stories of more than one hundred writers’ encounters with death-and their attitudes toward the Grim fear, uncertainty, or acceptance.Francis Bacon wrote, “It is as natural to die as to be born,” while Socrates told the judges who condemned him, “And now we go our ways, I to die and you to live. Which is better is known to God alone.”Death often came in startling ways for these well-known writers. The playwright Aeschylus was conked by a turtle falling from the sky. Christopher Marlowe was stabbed in a barroom brawl. Molière collapsed while playing the role of a hypochondriac in one of his plays.Edgar Allan Poe was found semicomatose in someone else’s clothes shortly before he died. Sherwood Anderson was felled by a toothpick in a martini. Did Dylan Thomas really die of eighteen straight whiskeys? And was it a bottle cap or murder that did in Tennessee Williams?If these authors have lessons for us, the best may be that of Marcus “Death smiles at us all; all we can do is smile back.”

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography, Biography Memoir, Reference, Ebooks, Writing

314 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 6, 2015

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, not really worth the time it takes to read it. Bernhard uses examples of hundreds of authors and relates short stories of their lives and deaths as well as a bit about what was thought about death during their lifetimes. Strangely, the author mentions Wikipedia as his first source. You too can easily do that.

[Jeanette · Rating 3 out of 5]

This gives a succinct review (either 2, 3, or 4 pages)of each author's life starting from ancient times until more modern times (the last entry is Nora Ephron). And then gives a more thorough detailing of their death and/or last words.

Few females.

But lots of Tuberculosis, Pneumonia, Heart Attacks, Infections (contagious and otherwise), and Suicides.

The ages and tales all told seem highly indicative of their times, but IMHO, the depression factor is outlier.

What surprised me is the amount of authors that, forgive me reader, sounded like ultimate bores in their life style or pattern.

Seems to me, absolutely true that you only wrote if you had someone else- washing, cleaning, carrying your water, cooking etc. And it also seems to me- that those who avoided doctors fared MORE favorably, not less.

Old age is in general definition and in mobility aspects- it seems about 55 to 60. Ancient is anything over 70. Travel seemed infinitely more troublesome to longevity in any case, IMHO. And many of these most superior writers also had infirmity or considerable sickness from infancy onwards.

[Anne (In Search of Wonder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not just about the deaths and death-related philosophies of famous authors. It's a whirlwind tour of influential authors (including novelists, philosophers, playwrights, and poets) from Ancient Greece until now. Each author is introduced with a brief biography, a glimpse of their writings on the subject of death and the afterlife, and a description of the circumstances surrounding their deaths. I particularly enjoyed the occasional random laugh-out-loud witticisms of the author.

Mostly, though, these are the thoughts that were left with me as I finished the book:

Didn't do well in college? Didn't go to college? Dropped out of college? Flunked out of college? Expelled from college? Never fear, there is a lucrative career just waiting for you: be a writer!

You live a life of dissipation, flitting from one addiction to another? You spend your days in an opium or liquor induced haze? No worries, that's no impediment to your career of choice. If you're a writer.

You have no knowledge of successful human relationships because you've never actually had one? You can still write about them.


Morality is not your thing? You think fidelity is for the birds? Go ahead, write a love story! It'll be a best seller!

You have no clearly defined beliefs or philosophies about life, death, humanity, and God? That's ok, just make stuff up and write about it. Or just write within the context of the prevailing moral and religious philosophy of the day, and no one will be the wiser.

Seriously, it's kind of scary that these are the people who have been informing the public mind for many centuries.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, though brief insight into the lives of past writers, how they lived, and how they died.

[Jonas Saul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulous book for anyone interested in learning more about their favorite authors. I had no idea that Mark Twain was a pseudonym and that his real name was Samuel Langhorne Clemens. Nor did I know that Agatha Christie was born, Agatha Mary Clarissa Millar, and she not only took on the name Agatha Christie for her 66 murder mysteries, she used the pen name, Mary Westmacott to write romance.

Or how about F. Scott Fitzgerald being related to the writer of The Star Spangled Banner.
I had no idea that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle killed Sherlock off in the story titled, The Final Problem. But after great protest from readers, and even a call from his mother, he resurrected Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles.

How about Robert Louis Stevenson being born from a long line of lighthouse engineers. Or the name Allan in Edgar Allan Poe is the foster name of the family that raised him after he was orphaned at the age of two.

This and so much more is discovered in this fabulous, well-researched, book!

[And vice versa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Smoothly written and interesting, but…

The choice of authors to profile is excellent though necessarily arbitrary. My complaint, acknowledged by the author, is sourcing. When Wikipedia is perhaps your most-used source, you simply must do better - even in a non-academic title such as this.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was so excited to read this book, and to be truthful, at first I was a bit disappointed. It might have just been me but I had a hard time getting into it; it just seemed dry and boring. However, I stuck with it, and ended up enjoying it. I have it 4 stars because of the number of authors they covered—great scope. Brief info about the writer’s life, a bit about the spiritual or religious beliefs (or lack thereof) how this person died, what funeral services were and the site of burial are all present. There are times when the author cites passages of each writer’s work that go on and on and on; that was a turn off for me. Citing a few lines of a well-known work would have been sufficient. In one “chapter” I found myself skipping whole pages because I didn’t really want to read the writer’s poem again.
Overall I did enjoy, and if you’re interested in this topic, by all means read this book. Just realize that you may find yourself yawning or skimming in parts.

[Maura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Occasionally interesting but overall not great

Some of the stories were interesting but so many of them ended the same way of "they got sick and then they died." Sounded like it was going to be a lot more intriguing than it was and I only finished it out if stubbornness and hoping it would get better.

[John · Rating 2 out of 5]

This got a little mechanical for me: Name, Birth and career, eschatological beliefs/religious practices, death (with special focus on name dropping funeral attendees toward more recent days)--over and over, with about as much detail and insight as a middle grade encyclopedia entry. There are some colorful anecdotes, to be sure, and the audiobook reader is competent enough.

[Virginia Bernhard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty, erudite, sometimes macabre, sometimes merry! A romp through literary history from Aeschylus to Ebert.
A fun read! Keep it on the night table for regular doses.

[Karl Pence · Rating 2 out of 5]

Is that all there is?

Informative and mildly entertaining but somewhat smarmy dismissive, esp. of alcoholism. I didn't expect much ... and it delivered. Time filler, only.

[Rachel]

I thought I would be more interested in this than I was.

[Steve Bera · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this was a musing about dying, as written by famous authors. Instead, it was a very brief summary of their life.

[Bryan Fox · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light enough read on a dark enough topic, the relationship that famous authors throughout history have had towards death. The book is divided by historical epoch, starting from ancient times and ending with contemporary deaths that happened less than 10 years ago. It's a good resource for random trivia ("Horace was a notorious hedonist who was addicted to pornographic pictures and had mirrors installed in his bedroom", the name "Voltaire" is an anagram of the Latinized spelling of the author's given name plus the letters "LI", "le jeune", James Joyce could speak 17 languages, and so on) and odd quotes (Ovid: "Don't like to anybody, except, of course, women - for that doesn't count!", a British newspaper, eulogizing the atheist Percy Bysshe Shelley's death, wrote "Shelley, the writer of some infidel poetry, has been drowned; now he knows whether there is a God or not.", "The meaning of life, is that it stops." - Kafka). It's also interesting to see who was sickly, who was depressed, who was a perv, who was a junkie, who died broke, and, above all, who was/wasn't religious and why. But in the end, I didn't really feel like the whole was greater than the sum of the parts. A good book to leave in the bathroom if you expect to have morbid houseguests staying over for a while.

[Sarah Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Final Chapters: How Famous Author's Died", by Jim Bernhard is an engaging and entertaining read. Bernhard covers authors from the classical age to the modern era. For each he provides a brief biography, with a description of their views on death and the afterlife, and - of course - how they died. Causes of death include the expected drug and alcohol induced health issues, lung conditions, heart attacks, cancers. suicides, accidents, murder, and my favourite, being hit on the head by a turtle shell. It is interesting to note the advances in medical knowledge, with the causes of death for modern authors being definitive, and those for earlier writers being based on historical descriptions. A very interesting read.

[John DiConsiglio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Turn the page on the 100 famous authors in this macabre book which details deaths from Aeschylus (a vulture dropped a turtle on his head) to Roger Ebert (cancer, movingly self-documented). Not as fun as you’d hope. They don’t all go gently into that good night, but many are mundane. Like the rest of us, they succumbed to heart attacks, strokes &, in Chaucer’s case, “some unknown illness.” Strictly bathroom reading. As they said in the Big Chill, you can read Dostoevsky in the bathroom, but you can’t finish him. (Emphysema did that.)

[Renee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is almost a beach read since the chapters are very short and the material is very entertaining. He takes famous literary people such as authors and poets who have died and tells us how they died - it's not macabre or at all depressing other than it seems very creative people often have a short life span. Let's hope they lived the fullest lives possible while here. The author also gives some highlights of the author's most famous writing and some personal aspects of their lives that are almost trivia so usually very interesting.

[Mish Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book

This is a book that is said to be about a number of writers thoughts on death and how they died. It is much more than that. Each person is a famous writer. Each short (3-4) page vignette gives us a short biography as well as the few sentences about their thoughts about and their deaths. It was a wonderful way to learn about them.

[Richard Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting and entertaining. It was easy to read. It's not the sort of book that will win literary awards but if you read and/or write you may be curious enough to pick this up and read it.

[C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting stuff. Great pictures.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although one of the sources cited for the information in this book is Wikipedia, I still found this book interesting.

[Matt Flick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting and often amusing look into the life and death of many famous writers from Chaucer to Nora Ephron. I really enjoyed it.

[Deda Sab]

It felt like reading an encyclopedia.

[Debumere · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read but better read in snippets. Short chapters about authors and how they died. It gets a bit samey if you try and read it straight so break it up.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically, a bunch of Wikipedia entries for dead writers.

[Katie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook narrated by my favorite, Daniel Henning.

This was a look at the final words of famous writers, thinkers, and poets. The book was divided by time period (Romantic, Victorian, Contemporary, etc.) and featured many noteworthy names (as well as some I wasn't familiar with). I enjoyed the practice of summing up the life and words of (for example) Edgar Allan Poe or Voltaire while keeping the focus on their final days. Over time, you could see the significance that was placed on capturing the "last words" of folks that shaped the cultural consciousness and how it went from "we think they said this" to "his daughter reports that his final breath was taken at ..."

A nice audiobook break with my favorite narrator.

[Jerry Jares · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, Jim Bernhard proves that there is humor in death.  This is a witty exposition of the odd, unique, or commonplace happenings of death.  I really liked the thumbnail sketches the author shared with the reader about the author at hand.  I'd just read a biography of Virginia Woolf, but this author showed me a slightly different view of the famous author.  Delightfully, Mr. Bernhard divvied up the authors according to time (for example, the Classic Age, the Romantic Era).

I was afraid that the stories of individual authors would all run together, so I divided up the book over several nights.  I might read the Victorian Age authors one night, and the writers of the Modern Era on another.  By doing so, I learned (and retained) the fact that James Joyce was a genius; he spoke 17 languages.  He fell into a coma and died in Zurich at 58-years of age.

Dorothy Parker, cynic, poet, and short-story writer died almost penniless but gave her royalties to the NAACP (who still receive funds).  Christopher Marlowe, the playwright, died at 29-years by being stabbed in the eye over the cost of a meal.  Not much is known about how William Shakespeare died, only that he died on the date of his birth.  I thoroughly enjoyed the text, photos, and witty spin on some of the most famous of the world's writing elite.  This year, I've decided to spend more time reading classics.  Thus, this book is a handy reference to find out more about an author I'm reading at the time (for example, Agatha Christie,  Oscar Wilde, and many others).

Did you know that Thomas Hardy trained as an architect?  It was staggering to read how many people died of tuberculosis in earlier years.   I've had a great time re-reading favorite authors and their shenanigans.  The author tries to share the individual's personal thoughts on death and dying, where available.  Delightful reading. I'm keeping this book as a permanent reference for authors (as I work my way through their books).

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of course I was going to buy this book. Who isn’t fascinated by death and the often dreary ends authors had as the final chapter. It was very interesting to read because the book is organized by time periods starting in Ancient Greece and Rome.

There were definitely similarities in what many died of that coincided with the period in which they lived and wrote. Men (and women) of wealth often succumbed to diseases associated with a life of excess.

Writers had mental health afflictions with depression occupying a prominent place in that list. The author was able to show in some cases that family genetic pre-dispositions played a role in those mental and physical health issues.

Of course there was drinking and drugs which is one of those artistic clichés but almost as many died from diseases and pandemics of their era. Influenza, TB and common ailments which are more easily treated now, such as diabetes, were all on the list.

Each author has a few pages (3-4, some less) devoted to their life and background. The biographical bits are great because they give you just enough to pique your interest if you want to pursue reading a more in depth biography about them or the time period in which they lived.
What I found most curious was the fact that several died from unknown stomach problems. I am going through something similar myself and it was disheartening to know that even autopsies failed to divulge an answer. There was a lot of dying from unknown causes. And a lot from colds gone to pneumonia.

It was also interesting to note that many died with little or no fame and achieved their greatest heights posthumously. Lesson for writers? Keep writing. Today’s trash is tomorrows “Great Gatsby”. Poverty as a writer is a-ok. Write for the love of the word and for the soul satisfaction. Write for friends, write for fun, write for yourself. Enjoy it but don’t seek fame. Most of the NYT Best Seller List is not going to stand the test of time as great literature.

Sometimes, the most surprising stories that we spend years deconstructing, were just great stories. There never was a hidden layer of secret complexity that any writer consciously saw in their writing. Sometimes, the sky was blue and clear, means just that – a nice day. Great book!

[Michelle Graf · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was alright, gave a brief overview of the author's life, works, and death, and how that factored into their writings. Though it got into religion heavily, which kind of makes sense. The idea, or lack thereof, of an afterlife deals with both spirituality and death. But it felt like it was more about their religious beliefs than their idea on the afterlife, which wasn't what I expected when I read the summary. Overall, it was a good read, and covered writers from all sorts of media, including books, poems, theater, and reviews. I'd recommend it if you have the time.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Final Chapters isn't a particularly substantial book, but it does contain of a few brief biographies of famous poets, novelists, playwrights and, in one case, film critique as well as some succinct criticism of some of these authors' written words on the subject of mortality and religious belief. Truthfully, I immediately forgot most of the trivia I encountered about each author in his or her respective entry, but I enjoyed each one as I was reading it a little at a time over the past few months in waiting rooms and occasional free moments.