"The sad decline of local newspapers means the near-extinction of full-time obituary writers. Sam Roberts, one of the best, does a mordantly wonderful job of dissecting the delicate craft of summing up the dead. Next time you're invited to a funeral, stay home and read this book instead. You'll get the gist." -- CARL HIAASEN, #1 New York Times bestselling author "Sam Roberts makes death seem hilarious and positively endearing. A master of the mini-biography, Roberts reminds us of the pleasures of the obituary page. It is all about the life-and the thought occurs to me that my own departure would not be so bad if only Mr. Roberts could write the obit!" -- KAI BIRD, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus "Sam Roberts's Are They Dead Yet? is a must for anyone who loves obituaries.

I almost died laughing." -- ROZ CHAST, New York Times-bestselling author of Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant? "It can be hard to admit that obituaries are one of your favorite parts of a paper. Sam Roberts is a maestro composer of the form, and here he gives us a long, loving look into how obits are created. Oddly, this book is fun!" -- JOHN McWHORTER, New York Times bestselling author "" Are They Dead Yet? is amusing, informative, anecdotal, revelatory, digressive, surprising-I could go on, but I'll end with this: Death has never been so much fun." -- DANIEL OKRENT, Pulitzer Prize finalist and first New York Times public editor "Writing obituaries calls for a finely balanced blend of sensitivity, truth-telling, decorum, boldness, humanity, and philosophy . Few know the challenges of the job better than Sam Roberts, a (the?) leading obituary writer at The New York Times . An engrossing voyage through the practice of his trade." -- ANN WROE, Obituaries Editor, The Economist "An ingenious social history .

[Roberts] is an ace at compact biography . An industrious researcher, mining fascinating nuggets-some profound, some just fun-from sources familiar and obscure." -- The Wall Street Journal on THE NEW YORKERS "[Roberts is] a scholar who's read everything ever published on the city's past and of a reporter who's spent his career engaging its people . [ The New Yorkers ] abounds in rich portraits." -- New York Times Book Review on THE NEW YORKERS.