Wabonga Press
  • WELCOME
  • OUR SERVICES
  • OUR PROJECTS
  • OUR CONTENT
  • CONTACT US

Final Chapters

22/4/2016

 
Picture
Jim Bernhard: Skyhorse Publishing $19.00
 
AUTHORS often deal with death as a subject in their creative efforts but how much is recorded – when the pen is laid down one last time or the keyboard falls silent – of an individual writer’s own demise?
In Final Chapters Jim Bernhard presents the gruesome, garish and occasionally amusing details of more than 100 well-known authors’ ultimate days.
Arranged chronologically, the chapters begin with the Classical Age and span the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment and the Romantic, Victorian and modern eras.
Bernhard’s preface refers to the morbid curiosity humans feel for death and the questions people ask: “When?”, “Where?”, “Why?” and, most vigorously, “How?”
He also notes: “Even though average life expectancies have substantially lengthened in modern times, writers do not seem to have benefited from the improvement.” To the contrary: the average age at death of classical Greek and Roman writers was about 70 years yet in more recent centuries it has fallen to 65.
Murder, execution, torture and medical conditions ranging from malaria and tuberculosis to leukaemia have felled their share of wordsmiths, as have heart disease and the abuse of alcohol (18 shots of whiskey in a single sitting in Dylan Thomas’s case).
Perhaps the most bizarre death of all was that of Aeschylus, fatally injured when an airborne eagle dropped its prey – a turtle – onto his bald head, intending to crack it open against what the bird apparently mistook for a rounded rock.
At the other end of the scale was Plato, who had as pleasant an end to his life as any tired old biographer could possibly seek: he simply “drifted peacefully into death” either while conducting music or attending a wedding feast.
Final Chapters is a convenient collection for anyone seeking short, sharp sections that can be read in a few minutes each.


Comments are closed.
    ' Books are treasure for the spirit and ​the soul. '​
    — VB 2020

    ​​

    Book reviews

    WABONGA Press produces an original book review every Friday. Books are chosen from among the latest English-language fiction and non-fiction releases in Australia and internationally.
    Each 300-word review is accompanied by a high-resolution cover image.
    All are available for licensing to print media in selected regions.​For less than the cost of one takeaway cup of coffee each week, a publication can make use of this service to access a new review every seven days, backed by a written guarantee that the same content will not be licensed for use by any direct competitor.
    Please contact Wabonga's publisher, Rosalea Ryan, to discuss how this service can be tailored to your newspaper or magazine.​

    Picture

    Categories

    All
    Adventure
    Africa
    Antarctica
    Arctic
    Asia
    Atlantic
    Australia
    Author – Australian
    Biography
    British Isles
    Caribbean
    Christmas
    Crime
    Easter
    Entertainment
    Europe
    Fiction
    Finance
    Food
    History
    Humour
    Journalism
    Maritime
    Middle East
    Nature
    New Year
    Non-fiction
    North America
    Pacific
    Pandemic
    Relationships
    Romance
    Scandinavia
    South America
    Sport
    Sub-continent
    Suspense
    Travel
    War

    Archive

    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015

Picture