Speaking for the Dead

Longreads is featuring an excerpt from Sam Roberts' new book, 'Are They Dead Yet?', in which the veteran obituary writer explores what obituaries reveal about us and our society. Rather than focusing on the dead, Roberts examines how the act of memorializing someone—what gets emphasized, whose stories get told, and whose get left out—serves as a mirror to our cultural values. Drawing on examples from literary obituaries to small-town newspapers, he investigates how this journalistic form has evolved and its role in binding communities together, while also noting that obituaries sometimes become vehicles for settling old scores, allowing families to have the last word on how someone is remembered.

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