The Times Lives Less Ordinary: Obituaries of the eccentric, unique and undefinable
£8.70£9.50 (-8%)
Discover the lives of some of the most fascinating and unconventional characters of recent times, with 85 obituaries carefully curated from The Times archive. Be they dons, pop stars, vicars, MPs, rugby players or aristocrats, each has marched to the beat of their own drum and led a life far from ordinary.
The Times obituaries have given readers throughout the world an instant picture of a life for more than 150 years. Meet the mavericks, rogues and eccentrics from recent history, including:
- Baroness Trumpington, the codebreaking, chainsmoking, two-finger-flicking grande dame of British politics
- ‘Magic Alex’ Mardas, inventor who was the Beatles’ ‘scientific guru’
- Zsa Zsa Gábor, Hungarian socialite and actress who made a success out of celebrity and was best known for having married nine times
- John Lucas, influential philosopher who argued against determinism and had a reputation for being the most eccentric don in Oxford
- Brigadier Jack Thomas, military police commander who survived a landmine, bullet, rhino and faulty parachute and liked to watch TV with an owl on his head
- April Ashley, model, socialite and transgender rights campaigner whose reassignment surgery was part of a rollercoaster life of lovers and high drama
- Jordan Mooney, punk muse known as ‘the original Sex Pistol’ who appeared on stage with them, guided their ‘look’ and then became a veterinary nurse
Authoritative, insightful and endlessly engaging, this book is a must for anyone with an interest in the eccentrics and unique characters of recent times.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Times Books (26 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 416 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0008637075 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008637071 |
| Dimensions | 12.9 x 3.1 x 19.8 cm |
by Keith Guyatt
Nice mixture of famous and not so well known people,lots of information
by Lloyd
If you like quirky people this will amuse you
by Roland Deschain
The Times obituaries have long been a happy hunting ground for anyone with an interest in people and what makes (or made!) them tick. They are always anonymous (with one famous exception – Winston Churchill signed his obituary of Valentine Fleming – father of Ian Fleming – with ‘WSC’) because that enables the author to give a ‘warts and all’ portrait rather than a bland eulogy. That’s one of the things that makes this selection of the eccentric (or at least not quite CONcentric) deceased so irresistible. They’re the people you might not possible fancy spending much time with, but who make life so much more interesting for the rest of us.
How many of the subjects you have ever heard of depends, I suspect, on your age and interests … but even if you haven’t heard of them, they still make great reading. They’re particularly good as bedtime reading. None are more than a few pages long, and of course you don’t have to remember what happened in the last chapter before you dozed off. They’re also very educational … so as well as being entertained and soothed to sleep, you might learn a few things, too.
At £11.99 for the book and £6.99 for the app, it’s money well spent. Recommended.
by lea
I guess that should be expected, even when the obituaries are written in such a stylistically observed way to keep them both entertaining and as respectful as need be.
Some characters leap of the page more than others and even the so-called regular people all had connections most of us can only dream of, so yes there are some incredibly quirky life stories awaiting within the pages, but they keep their distance.
I did not find anybody I warmed to a little more and indeed found myself readjusting some opinions downward in a few cases, they always say that nobody says anything mean about somebody when they die, this book proves that old myth to be untrue but in such a way as to doubtless never have caused offence to any relatives still standing.
As is usual with a Times book it is well presented, the hardback edition seems well priced at £12 and truly if any complaint be laid at the book, it is merely that it covers such a small span beginning as it does with 2016, when you consider the rich history of The Times I feel it would have been much more impressed with some considerably older obituaries as well and in my opinion they would have made this a far more compelling read.
by MR. B. S. Jagdev
Super book, which is essentially a collection of obituaries from the times newspaper, I think.
by LianaReads
This was such an interesting read. I learned about famous people as well as some unknown ones and it’s a good experience overall
by Timothy Lowe
Reading
by lea
The media could not be loaded.
This hardback is a great conversationalist book with a few pages devoted to each of the 80 weird, wild and wonderfully unusual people therein. Most of these people I’d never heard of before but their lives were indeed fascinating. It’s a comfortable read. The typing is a decent size in a basic font, and as each obituary is only a couple of pages, it’s great for those who cannot read for long periods of time. The book has a few black and white photos but no colour pictures and not every obituary is accompanied by a photo. I’m thoroughly enjoying this book which has led me to want to read more about many of the people featured.