Fame at Last is the first book to use a detailed analysis of almost ten thousand obits to consider success, fame, and accomplishment in America. Drawing on a database that includes every New York Times obituary of the past six years, it highlights America's most important, famous, and fascinating achievers-the superrich, inventors, lawyers, doctors, actors, politicians, and chefs. The colorful, compelling stories of their lives reveal much about success and change in our most high-status worlds.And then there is the analysis of these many groups, shown in charts and tables. Which Americans get the longest obits and make it onto the Overall Apex of Fame? The Apex of Fame for authors? How do women do? Which eight schools educated almost 30 percent of those in the database? This lively and original book is a revealing look at who's who in America. What do the most successful people have in common? How is success in one field different from another? Fame at Last offers a complex but entertaining vision of achievement in America.