The Undertaking - Life Studies from the Dismal Trade (Paperback, New Ed)

A book, by an undertaker, about death. What fun. How to behave at a funeral, a discussion of euthanasia, dealing with bereavement. But in fact this is a very beguiling book. The undertaker, who has his business in a small Michigan town, is also a poet, and this is Lake Wobegon with tears. Though its subtitle is 'Life Studies from the Dismal Trade' it is far from dismal; it is wry, sensible and in many ways comforting. (Kirkus UK)

Like all poets, inspired by death, Lynch is, unlike others, also hired to bury the dead or cremate them and to tend to their families in a small Michigan town where he serves as the funeral director. In the conduct of these duties he has kept his eyes open, his ears tuned to the indispensable vernaculars of love and grief. In these twelve essays is the voice of both witness and functionary. Lynch stands between 'the living and the living who have dies' with the same outrage and amazement, straining for the same glimpse we all get of what mortality means to a vital species. So here is homage to parents who have died and to children who shouldn't have. Here are golfers tripping over grave-markers, gourmands and hypochondriacs, lovers and suicides. These are essays of rare elegance and grace, full of fierce compassion and rich in humour and humanity - lessons taught to the living by the dead.

General

Imprint:	Vintage
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	April 1998
First published:	April 1998
Authors:	Thomas Lynch
Dimensions:	198 x 129 x 16mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Paperback - B-format
Pages:	225
Edition:	New Ed
ISBN-13:	978-0-09-976731-2
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Literary Books > Language & Literature > Literature: history & criticism > Poetry & poets > General Books > Language & Literature > Literature: texts > Essays, journals, letters & other prose works > General Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social institutions > Death & dying > General Books > Biography > Literary Promotions
LSN:	0-09-976731-7
Barcode:	9780099767312

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