The American way of death
by Jessica Mitford · first published 1901
5mentions
2recommended by
3HN commenters
2011–2024first – last mentioned
67% recommend33% neutral
"...Here is a whole complex of commercial operations that result in funerals whose expense, display and mumbo jumbo are unrelated to any Christian or Jewish tradition and virtually unheard of in any other country today. And there is precise information on what is being done to lower the cost and raise the dignity of burial in the United States."
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May I recommend "The American Way of Death" by Jessica Mitford (the entirely human Mitford sister)? The basic story is that the funeral industry completely captured the regulating of the disposal of dead people a long, long time ago.
on “How 38 Monks Took on the Funeral Cartel and Won” ↗…Lewis, Wyndham - Blast Marcus, Greil - Mystery Train McEwan, Ian - In Between The Sheets Milligan, Spike - Puckoon Mishima, Yukio - Sailor Who Fell From Grace With The Sea, The Mitford, Jessica - American Way Of Death, The Nabokov, Vladimir - Lolita Norman, Howard - Bird Artist, The Norris, Frank - McTeague O’Hara, Frank - Selected Poems Orwell, George - 1984 Orwell, George - Inside The Whale And Other Essays…
on “David Bowie’s Top 100 Books (2013)” ↗The American Way of Death by Jessica Mitford. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_American_Way_of_Death
on “High Prices Make Textbook ‘Piracy’ Acceptable to Most Students” ↗…isn't even fashion, but the fear of being ostracized or left behind by one's social circle." A natural source of fear and uncertainty is stoked by people who find opportunity to make a buck off it. "The American Way of Death" is a good book to read in that vein, although it's about the pointless, blindingly expensive ostentation of US burial rituals. The book was very successful and well-regarded; didn't change a thing.
on “The financial costs of healthcare costs, or, is keeping me alive worth it?” ↗Jessica Mitford book "The American Way of Death" from 1963 is describe here https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/death/fond-farewells She documented the undertakers bumping up the prices as you describe (to put it mildly). I don't however know if the…
on “Washington state lawmakers approve human corpse composting” ↗