Gary Laderman, "Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America" (Repost)
Gary Laderman, "Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America"
Publisher: OUP | 2003 | ISBN: 019513608X | English | True PDF | 296 pages | 2.08 Mb
Publisher: OUP | 2003 | ISBN: 019513608X | English | True PDF | 296 pages | 2.08 Mb
In 1963, Jessica Mitford's The American Way of Death shocked the nation and provoked scandal throughout the funeral industry. Mitford portrayed undertakers as exploitative businessmen eager to turn a profit off of a poor man's grief. Her book climbed the bestseller list and put the growing and profitable funeral industry on the defensive. Forty years later, Laderman comes to the industry's defense with this thoughtful book. His case is cautious and honest. He presents the industry's history from its inception during the Civil War period up to the present. The author explores American attitudes toward death through various lenses, including cultural, religious and psychological history, which demonstrate a pervasive fascination with death and a desire to share an intimate moment with the dead as a part of the grieving process.
Gary Laderman, "Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America" (Repost)
