I was torn between wanting to smack the author for hating on the funeral directors (that was my chosen profession when I was younger) and being shocked at the price gouging that the industry does. Sometimes I'm happy I never followed through with that goal.
Eye opening, for sure. ( )

It seems rather morbid to give a book about the American funeral industry five stars. But it was a very interesting book, and a very eye-opening look into the business end of death. One of the best things about it was how funny it was. Most of this wasn't the author's doing, it was when she directly quoted from trade journals of the funeral industry that the laughs kept coming. I don't think I was supposed to be laughing, though, which made those gems even funnier. ( )

“[The funeral director] will do his best to hypnotize the family into believing that the more expensive the casket, the more elaborate the preparations, the greater the love and honor shown the deceased…” so Mitford quotes a 1942 ed. of Etiquette in “The American Way of Death Revisited.” This work is exactly what a reader wants from evidence-based, forthright investigative journalism.

Did you know that embalming isn't required? No religion commends it, nor health or sanitation. Yet funeral directors will embalm a body without first consulting the family. It is also unnecessary for an open casket. In fact, this pricey procedure only lasts through the service and burial. The real preservation is for bodies donated to science. But it is claimed as necessary for “grief therapy." In 1996 a $7000+ funeral was not uncommon.

Did you know that a casket isn't required for cremation? The costlier grades cannot be burned or reused. They are broken down and scrapped. Cremation is no guarantee against the show room, along with flowers, portraits, escorting services, multiple “coaches” for the funeral train, etc. Even Jacqueline Kennedy faced these "nefarious transactions" during her husband’s funeral, despite the efforts by Robert K.

At the time of this book, the top players were: Service Corp. Intl, the Loewen Group and Stewart Enterprises with profits in the billions. Terms like “service”, “preparation room”, “reposing room,” or “grieving room” among many others, are all part of the sales pitch. In the industry, “combos” are cemeteries with integrated undertaking. "It is standard practice to not start construction until at least 1/3 of all burial space has been sold.” So much greed and manipulation! At the end the author was sure to include a directory of non-profit funeral and memorial societies for each U.S. state. I absolutely commend this author for her efforts. ( )

Compost me. ( )

Entirely engrossing, she became somewhat of a personal hero of mine. ( )