Alix Strauss

"Like a beautifully-wrapped gift box, full of unexpected pleasures. Alix Strauss proves herself to be an astute and deeply feeling observer of human nature."--Dani Shapiro, author of Black & White A stunning, wise, and witty second novel from renowned trend journalist Alix Strauss, Based Upon Availability chisels away at the exteriors of eight smart and intriguing women while delving deep inside to see what they're truly made of. Following her Ingram Award-winning The Joy of Funerals--named Best Debut Novel by The New York Resident--Based Upon Availability is women's literary fiction at its finest.

"Death Becomes Them" is an eye-opening and entertaining look into the lonely, personal nightmares behind celebrity suicides. Strauss' subjects range from Virginia Woolf to Kurt Cobain, from Elliott Smith to Adolf Hitler and from Mark Rothko to Anne Sexton. Tragic and often bizarre, Strauss unearths today's most talked about and monumental suicides that have impacted us while paying tribute to these lost souls. Each death is as diverse as the person that killed himself. Some are tragic - Dorothy Dandridge was found naked on her bathroom floor, a handful of anti-depressants swimming in her system. Others are bizarre - Hunter S. Thompson shot himself while on the phone with his wife. This is an intimate, intense companion to the unobtainable - a fond remembrance, a final goodbye.