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Cause of Death: A Perfect Little Guide to What Kills Us
Presents macabre trivia and statistical information about what actually causes human death, in a darkly humorous volume drawn from the educational foundation of George Lucas that features such section headers as "Bad Breath," "Bad Plumbing," and "Broken Heart." 35,000 first printing.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 4, 2016
“Face it. We can go anytime. But in so many different ways!”
Poor death, so misunderstood. We feel bad for dying patients when ultimately we are just as dead as they are. Doctors talk about saving lives, when they are actually just delaying death a bit. I always found it strange how talking about our inevitable fate is often considered morbid and taboo.
I appreciated how Cause of Death it treats this dark theme with a lot of good humor. The book is a compilation of curious statistics of death in the United States and the world. It is divided in chapters like cancer, vascular diseases, hormones, bugs, war, starvation, murder, etc. As you can see, it is the perfect gift for that hypochondriac aunt of yours.
What I liked the most about the book where the boxes of curious historical deaths. Like literal “fashion victim” Isadora Duncan, suffocated by her long flowing scarf when it became entangled in the back wheel of her roadster. There are several other weird ways people have died, but my favorite is martial arts teacher Tran Quoc Dong’s, the world’s only known victim of karaoke, electrocuted by his microphone while singing in 2003.
Perhaps what got me more impressed was the Big Cats section. I had no idea tigers and lions killed – and still kill to this day – so many people. Cancer statistics are also good to scare smokers a lot. A friend of mine stopped smoking after I nagged him reciting a few passages. Another curious fact is that Cause of Death has a brief introduction by Star Wars killer George Lucas.
I did miss a bit more in-depth information, but that would contain the broad scope of the book. As it is, Cause of Death is good guide for the curious or perhaps writers trying to find creative ways to kill their darlings.
Poor death, so misunderstood. We feel bad for dying patients when ultimately we are just as dead as they are. Doctors talk about saving lives, when they are actually just delaying death a bit. I always found it strange how talking about our inevitable fate is often considered morbid and taboo.
I appreciated how Cause of Death it treats this dark theme with a lot of good humor. The book is a compilation of curious statistics of death in the United States and the world. It is divided in chapters like cancer, vascular diseases, hormones, bugs, war, starvation, murder, etc. As you can see, it is the perfect gift for that hypochondriac aunt of yours.
What I liked the most about the book where the boxes of curious historical deaths. Like literal “fashion victim” Isadora Duncan, suffocated by her long flowing scarf when it became entangled in the back wheel of her roadster. There are several other weird ways people have died, but my favorite is martial arts teacher Tran Quoc Dong’s, the world’s only known victim of karaoke, electrocuted by his microphone while singing in 2003.
Perhaps what got me more impressed was the Big Cats section. I had no idea tigers and lions killed – and still kill to this day – so many people. Cancer statistics are also good to scare smokers a lot. A friend of mine stopped smoking after I nagged him reciting a few passages. Another curious fact is that Cause of Death has a brief introduction by Star Wars killer George Lucas.
I did miss a bit more in-depth information, but that would contain the broad scope of the book. As it is, Cause of Death is good guide for the curious or perhaps writers trying to find creative ways to kill their darlings.
June 11, 2016
A book chocked full of statistics of the hows and whys that cause the deaths of people. Mostly for USA, but some from other countries as well. Very interesting--if you're into that kind of thing. A little macabre.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews