A new book The Economist Book of Obituaries, has been published.  According to Amazon.com,

For more than a decade, The Economist has included unique and original obituaries in a quite popular column. The obituaries are remarkable because of the unpredictable selection of people written about, the surprising lives they led, and the brilliant writing style. This volume gathers two hundred of the best obituaries. The selection for this book ranges far and wide: Syd Barret of Pink Floyd to John Kenneth Galbraith; Pope Jean Paul II to Sony founder Akio Morita; Este Lauder to Hunter S. Thompson; and Marcel Marceau to even Alex the African Grey (sciences best-known parrot). The book includes illustrations and photographs.

Sounds pretty interesting!

And, if you live in the New York City area, there is an event at the Prince George Ballroom celebrating the release of the book with an evening of conversation with the editors.  The event, Off the Page–Art of The Obituary will be held on Friday, October 31 at 9pm.  For more information, you can visit their website.