Death Becomes Them: Unearthing the Suicides of the Brilliant, the Famous, and the Notorious

Author Alix Strauss takes a provocative look at the self-imposed deaths of the famous and infamous in Death Becomes Them. In this fascinating and intimate chronicle of celebrity suicides, the spotlight shines on the lonely last moments of Kurt Cobain and Ernest Hemingway, Abbie Hoffman and Adolf Hitler, Dorothy Dandridge, Sigmund Freud, Hunter S. Thompson, and others. Death Becomes Them explores their sadness and madness, their accomplishments and the circumstances that led to their irreversible decision, and wishes them all a fond final good-bye.

Kurt Cobain, Anne Sexton, Mark Rothko, Ernest Hemingway, Adolf Hitler . . . all famous, some rich and powerful, some beloved, some abhorred. But when life and circumstance got to be too much, each headed for the exit door. Sigmund Freud overdosed on morphine. Dorothy Dandridge stripped naked and swallowed a handful of antidepressants. Hunter S. Thompson shot himself while talking to his wife on the phone.

These are the lonely personal nightmares behind celebrity suicides—the deaths and their causes are as diverse as the victims themselves. In Death Becomes Them, Alix Strauss bids each one a final good-bye while examining the last days and the unbearable incidents that drove these notables to end their lives. She decodes their notes, touches on their accomplishments, and delves into the methodologies of their deaths using autopsy and police reports and personal photos. Strauss also explores the morbid curiosity that feeds our fixation with famously tortured souls and provides lists of other controversial, bizarre, and poorly executed suicides in this mammoth tome.

“This honest, dark, sly book does reading the Obits one better. It dares us to admit to ourselves that there is a peculiar kind of comfort born in the wake of a death, a universal communion that serves to remind us that we, in fact, are still alive.” - Cynthia Kaplan, author of Why I'm Like This

“Strauss brilliantly exposes the devilry in the details and makes the profoundly moving, self-inflicted end-days of the greats a fascinating read.” - Michael Largo, author of Genuis and Heroin

“A truly unique, compelling and strangely life-affirming work of literary investigation. The perfect book to get you through the night. ” - Jerry Stahl, author of Permanent Midnight

“Dark, grisly, and completely fascinating. I almost felt guilty for so thoroughly enjoying this look at history’s most tormented souls.” - A.J. Jacobs, author of The Year Of Living Biblically

“A truly unique, compelling and strangely life-affirming work of literary investigation. The perfect book to get you through the night. ” - Rona Jaffe, author of The Room-Mating Season, among others