Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud

This is an interesting book that centers on the unique and crafty art of making yourself dead so you can live. Sounds odd. However, some people, indeed, attempt to fake their own death. The author explores these ideas in this book.I enjoyed the idea behind the book tremendously; as I have read many other books on how to disappear, hide in plain sight and do many other things to generally make yourself hard to find. The author does a decent job of explaining how this process works without actually telling you the details of how disappear.I did have a good laugh at her experience in the Philippines attempting to get a hold of her own death certificate and the cast of curious people she managed to work with. There was something delightfully daft about that odd sequence of the book.She interviews Frank Ahern, a master skip tracer, a couple of hard-boiled cops and some serious insurance fraud investigators about how things are doing. Inevitably, she finds out the most common problem with attempting to disappear is we fall back on the things we enjoy or leave some kind of trail for us to follow. If you are going to do this: you have to do it completely.Over I enjoyed the book and her crafty writing style. However, if you interested in a more substantial trip through this interesting area of reading then I would suggest reading the masterwork of J.J. Luna called How to be invisible and Frank Ahern’s book how to disappear. I would also strong recommend The International Fugitive: Secrets of Clandestine Travel Overseas by Ken Abaygo. These books have a far more realistic down to earth perspective of what it takes, in detail, to vanish.

I honestly couldn't get through 1/4th of this book without rolling my eyes on every page. This author is self-entitled and talks about how hard her life is and how it would be easier to "die" than to pay off her student loans (of which she took out a ludicrous amount to go to school across the country and live in an apartment in San Francisco of all places). I can't think of any worse reason to try to fake your death, the epitome of a first world problem.She focuses on what she was wearing during interviews and how her dialogue with the person she's interviewing is affected by their opinion of her. A boring perspective on a really interesting topic, and it totally killed it for me. If you can get past her rich girl attitude you might enjoy the topic at least.

I heard about this book after listening to the author on a podcast (a WNYC radio show); the idea of this book sounded fascinating. It's a wonderful read: informative and entertaining, and Ms Greenwood is a wonderful writer. It goes into depth about what one has to do to disappear, all the while pointing out that it's very hard to get away with this. Later chapters look at a few people who have tried to die, only to get caught, and it was interesting to read about their reasons and the psychology behind something like leaving your life behind. One chapter about people who think Michael Jackson is still alive could have been cut; it focused on one woman who cleanly has issues with reality, and it didn't seem germane to the topic. But overall, this is a fine book on a topic I wouldn't have otherwise been curious about.Now, if you'll excuse me, I'll take my leave...

I first became interested in this book after hearing the author on the "Criminal" podcast and was immediately enthralled as I entered the world of death fraud. Elizabeth Greenwood weaves a masterful description of her experiences as she researches a world of characters who have attempted to disappear from the life they've known. This was a real page turner for me and I was impressed with Greenwood's ability to keep me in suspense. Her interviews with key individuals who track down those who would attempt a fraudulent death helped bring realty into focus as they reveal how difficult it is to successfully accomplish this feat. I finished the book wishing it would continue on for many more chapters!

I was sorry to get to the end of this book with the author having done so little research into how to 'get dead'. It is a once over lightly slightly whiny book about how she came up with the idea of the book because she felt sorry for herself having to pay back debt. What follows is superficial and barely scratches the surface of this subject but guess what at the end of 5 years of her life writing this book, she accepts her lot. Ho hum.

I was so excited to read this book. The fascinating topic of death fraud is explored in a personal and often humorous way. Greenwood introduces the reader to many different characters; some of these individuals have committed psuedocide themselves, others have "lost" a family member to death fraud, a few have tracked down psuedociders, and some, such as a committed MichaelJackson fan base, believe theur loved one is just playing dead. Greenwood paints a fascinating picture of these characters with thoughtful accounts of her interactions with them.Never have I read such a thoroughly researched book that delves so deeply into a topic with sharp wit and humor.

Just a chapter in and I'm totally hooked. Even found myself returning to it at the hotel bar last night over a glass of wine. It's a fun peek into the type of world we've all thought about and done from not only an existential standpoint but also, so satisfyingly, from a practical one. I love all the stuff about how people disappear. Like how do you really get off the grid and untraceable, especially with modern technology. Miss Greenwood's writing is just full of flavor.

I cannot comment, I am still waiting for this order after five weeks...

10 pages of material spread across 200