Seamus O’Mahony is one of the funniest speakers I have ever had the pleasure to observe. A retired gastroenterologist, he has had decades to observe the human condition and then obviously decided that the way we die today needed a rigorous review.

In this lovely book, he covers the various philosophical approaches to death and dying and has a good go at the excesses of modern oncology, doctors as mere service providers and the various individuals trying to instil some sort of deeper meaning into the process of joining the choir invisible. The book is peppered with anecdotes around deaths where things went horribly wrong due to human idiocy and has a particularly satisfying chapter on doctors dying.

The book is a cracking read: more a litany on what went wrong with death over the last century, but never dull or boring. O’Mahony is a little bit too sorry for the decline of the influence that the (catholic) church held over death, but his ultimate tenet that modern medicine is trying a bit too hard to offer solutions for all aspects of life (and death) sounds healthy.

For myself, it has just hardened my resolve that once the day of a terminal diagnosis pops around, I’ll visit the local tattoo parlour and have ‘Do not resuscitate or you’ll hear from my effing lawyers’ in 48 Lato Bold on my chest.

Fortunately it’s broad enough.