Are They Dead Yet? by Sam Roberts

Are They Dead Yet? by Sam Roberts

"Goes down like a dirgeful beach read." -Harper's Magazine
"I almost died laughing." -ROZ CHAST
"My own departure would not be so bad if only Mr. Roberts could write the obit!" -KAI BIRD

From celebrated New York Times obituarist Sam Roberts, the art of the obit: Who we remember, how we forget, and where we find the true meaning in a life.

After nearly a decade behind the obituaries desk at the paper of record, Roberts knows obits aren't really about deaths. In fact, they usually only mention dying once. Over the course of the nearly 1,500 obituaries he has written throughout his career, he has instead come to understand that they're about distilling an entire life lived-for someone whose name he may have learned that morning.

In Are They Dead Yet?, Roberts explores the major questions that arise from the task of producing a succinct yet record-defining account of a life. Who deserves an obituary, and how do we decide who gets one? How does an obituarist choose what to include-and to omit? What happens when embarrassing information, like a crime, affair, or wonky cause of death, makes itself known? What makes a legacy, a claim to fame? And what happens when that claim to fame, so important in death, isn't what mattered in life at all?

With wit, wisdom, and behind-the-scenes intrigue, Roberts examines the practice of writing advance obituaries, of which there are more than 2,000 on hold and regularly updated at the New York Times, America's relationship to death in the wake of 9/11 and the pandemic, classic euphemistic language, and more. Through it all, Roberts brings his humor, shrewdness, and experience to prove what he has learned from a long career in death: There's no such thing as an ordinary life.

The New York Times's Urban Affairs Correspondent is Sam Roberts. He used to work for The New York Daily News as the city editor. His work has garnered accolades from the Newspaper Guild of New York and the Peter Kihss Prize for the City of New York, among others. Who We Are Now and The Brother, which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, are two of his books. His work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, The New Republic, New York Magazine, and Empire State Report, among other publications. Where else does he live?