This volume presents a series of essays which consider the ways in which the death scenes of different writers have inflected the reception of their work. Figures and topics addressed include: Molière, Mayakovsky, Pasolini, Proust, Dennis Potter, Foucault; the death mask, the literary encomium and the place of the critic in relation to this scene. Of interest to all those involved in literary studies and critical theory, this collection reveals the moment of death as that which binds life and work together - a relation which, here, is as urgent as it is impossible.