Grave Tidings - Review

Author: Paul Berra

Genre: Anthology & Nonfiction

Format: Paperback

Pages: 208

Funny, reflective, scornful or delirious, we are fascinated by famous last words because, humanity in extremis, they seem to tell us something about ourselves. Featuring lovers, killers, artists, traitors, spies, rulers, poets and pariahs, this thoughtful volume brings together the hedonists and the fatalists, the pragmatists and the optimists in a collection of famous last utterances - and the stories behind them - from throughout history. 

This was such a fun read! I found this tucked away on a bookshelf over the weekend when out for SEABookstore Day with a friend. The red cover and title caught my eye first, and the over made me fall in love. I'm such a sucker for weird little books like this. Quirky little tales of random facts in history, and this one sounded like a lot of fun.

In fact it sounded like the perfect little bus book, and I was not disappointed.

Grave Tidings is split into four different sections to include a wide variety of different last words from: military men, heroes, actors, philosophers, and emperors.  If they had interesting, or unbelievable last words, the probably made this book.

I was impressed with the just how wide the variety was of who made the books. A new a grew many of people found between the pages of Grave Tidings, but I was quick to learn I didn't know as much about some as I thought. I'm looking at you Errol Flynn... There were also a few who I didn't know and I quick to tab a lot of pages to do more research later on these remarkable, and sometimes criminal, people.

The book itself flowed very well was fill with information that proved Paul Berra did his research on each person. The pacing was great and I never felt bogged down with information. In fact I devoured this book faster than I thought. What I thought might last me the week, actually only took me two days to finish.

I'm glad this cover caught my eye, and I even more glad I decided to add it to my haul last Saturday. I enjoyed my time with this books, and the weird looks I got when giggled on the bus. Because there wasn't a dry page anywhere to be found. I thoroughly enjoyed Paul Berra's writing style and wit through out the whole book.

Buy, Borrow, or Skip: Honestly I say buy it, because it's definitely a conversation starter if anyone sees it on your shelf, mantel, or just pile on the floor. Yeah, I'm the latter... I know. I know. I recommend if your looking for a fun, quick, read.

HAPPY READING!!