My thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for an advance copy of book that looks at how we remember the dead, how this has changed over the years, why we remember some, but omit others, and what makes up a person's life, the life lived, or the summation that comes when that person is gone.

My family had some warning when my father passed away, so we planned accordingly. Suits were checked for fit and cleaning. A hall was booked, grave and casket purchased and a priest rented. The hardest, besides his dying was the writing of my father's obituary. My brother and I took on the writing, both working for magazines at the time, with final edit given to my mother. This was probably the hardest writing I have ever done. How does one summerize a life, especially as seen through three sets of eyes. This was so hard that both my brother and I have vowed to die first, so we would not have to do it again. I can't imagine a stranger, on deadline trying to capture the life of a person, they might know through fame, but sometimes not. And yet there are so many obituaries that I have read that have given me a sense of who a stranger was, and what he meant. This is a true act of creation, and one with an interesting history, and one that takes a lot of skill. Are They Dead Yet?: The Art of the Obit by longtime newsman Sam Roberts, and is not just a history of obituaries, but a history of newspapers, how we mourn, and what we remember about the dead.

The book is a bit memoir, a bit how to write, and a lot of history and anecdotes about newspapers, journalism, the city of New York, and about handling grief and loss. Roberts is a longtime newsman, starting at the New York Daily news, working as reporter and editor, before moving to the New York Times, and later to the obituary desk. Roberts discusses how people are chosen to be featured, fame usually, but an interesting story does help. There are anecdotes about collecting information, and how many newspapers have a, well morgue of pre-written obituaries, many of them created by interviewing the people who are still alive, to be ready for that special day. In addition Roberts looks at the history of tabloids in New York, the loss of which means that people know little about the world around them, and those neighbors and friends who have left, sometimes without fanfare. There is a wondering about what we owe the dead, if even a few words will someday be too much for a data center or AI to care about.

I really enjoyed this book for many reasons, something that should be said about a book dealing with death, but it is true. Roberts story about writing, researching knowing when to skip bad things, and in some cases including them to give a whole profile of the dead. The book offers why people are chosen, and efforts made to change this, to add more minorities and woman, and not just the usual white business owner. The writing is very good, clear and concise like a good newspaper article, full of information.

There is humor, but a lot of sadness, an understandable sadness. People fear being forgotten, about dying alone, and dying unmourned. The idea of a few words, even from a stranger, discussing a person, even if they did nothing notable, at least to the public. Life is notable, something that come across in this book. An interesting read for tabloid history, writing, and about the people who left us, those forgotten and those who are unforgettable. I look forward to reading more by Sam Roberts.