In his highly anticipated follow up to Final Exits and The Portable Obituary, Michael Largo tackles the art of the famous demise from another archly inventive angle.  Genius and Heroin: Creativity and Reckless Abandon Through the Ages archives the self-destructive lives and deaths of the extremely gifted from all arenas, including actors, politicians, athletes, scientists, musicians and military leaders.  Genius and Heroin is a reference guide that explores the paradox of an artist’s angst, that which prompts both inspiration and torment.  Largo’s work is a profound new addition to the public debate on whether personal agony is a necessary component to being publicly immortalized.

The Portable Obituary: How the Famous, Rich and Powerful Really Died
by Michael Largo

In The Portable Obituary, the second in a series examining death, author Michael Largo reveals the true last days of public figures and reviews their lives from the vantage point of their demise. He examines how a famous and celebrated person's deeds, intimate habits and lifestyles ultimately influence their mode of death, and in due course, determine their role in history and culture.

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Final Exits: The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of How We Die
by Michael Largo

We’re all going to die - it’s in the contract - but how will it happen? Today, although we live longer, people are killed by everything, including some outrageous causes as bad words, bingo, bloodletting, flying cows, frozen toilets, eating hair, hiccups, laughing, spontaneous combustion, and toupees! According to death certificates, there are more than 3, 000 ways to die. In the eye-opening and addictive Final Exits, the ways we die - bizarre and common - are alphabetically arranged and include actual accounts of people both famous and ordinary.

Thoroughly researched, with uncanny historical detail covering burial customs, famous last words, and more than 400 medical and historical illustrations from throughout the ages, Final Exits is more than just a trivia book. It is a portrait in words and numbers of human fate.