Praise for The Book of Extraordinary Deaths "Ruiz's sinister selections and quirky technique add up to a delightfully morbid foray into history." --Publishers Weekly "This slender, magnificent book is about the central tragedy of human existence, the dreadful final reckoning to which all flesh is heir. It's an absolute hoot." --Gene Weingarten, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and columnist Praise for Cecilia Ruiz's The Book of Memory Gaps "Cecilia Ruiz offers a darkly humorous but warmhearted account of various memory errors and disorders....The illustrations--lovely and quirky--manage to both depict a snapshot in time while also conveying memory's ephemeral, transient nature."--Bruce Poulsen Ph.D., PsychologyToday.com "Read[s] like Edward Gorey's The Gashlycrumb Tinies if it were written by Dr. Oliver Sacks....a quaint, beautifully designed little book with wonderful art."--MentalFloss.com

The Book of Extraordinary Deaths introduces readers to the bizarre demises of thinkers, writers, monarchs, artists, and notable nobodies throughout history. Beginning in the fifth century BC with the morbidly unusual death of Aeschylus and journeying chronologically to identical twins - who died on the same day - in the present day, readers will learn of people they may or may not have ever heard of, but will forever remember for their memorable final moments. With Ruiz's witty descriptions and beautiful illustrations, her characters come to life on the page even as they reach their demises