Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving

Mo Rocca expands on his podcast of the same name in this engaging and wryly humorous collection of biographies. In Mobituaries (2019), Rocca writes obituaries for those who were not appropriately celebrated upon their death—or whose actions have been forgotten by history. Using original interviews, biographies, and history books, Rocca covers figures from entertainers to presidents, poets to athletes. He shares little known facts about his subjects in a way that can be moving or amusing, but always interesting—and you don’t want to miss his odes to dragons, station wagons, or the rest stops of the New Jersey turnpike. My favorites included Marlene Dietrich and (shockingly) Herbert Hoover.

The author narrates the audiobook, which adds to the appreciation of his storytelling—you’ll hear the thread of affection he has for his subjects. For fans of hidden histories, random facts, and heartfelt storytelling.