navabrown's review against another edition
2.0
There were several curious elements within this book. However, on something so profound as death, I found the discussion and the chosen subjects handled in a rather prosaic fashion. It was a difficult book to finish. If you attempt it, the first chapter or so is the most well constructed portion of the whole.
reverenddave's review against another edition
3.0
Sort of a Mary Roach-lite approach, its an interesting looks at aspects of how Americans mourn and why. Nice spotlight on the late, lamented Funeral Customs museum in Springfield, IL.
sjoypopik's review against another edition
4.0
In a culture where the subject of death is avoided with utmost anxiety, Kate Sweeney's book examines more than just the historical practices of mourning, she opens up a conversation about death and grief-- one that seeks to demystify an essential rite of passage in life. The book is organized as a set of short stories that Sweeney navigates for us as a narrator-protagonist. I liked that she openly applied her own analysis and understanding of the customs and people that she writes about because it gave a sense that the people in this story; ones occupied by death and mourning and loss, are just as relatable and interesting as the rest of the "living" world. She does not hide her discomfort and confusion, but lays her experiences out for us to interpret. I was really moved by this book in ways that I didn't expect, and I know it will stay with me.
katherineep's review against another edition
5.0
I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book when I got it from Netgalley to review. I've read a few books from medical examiners that talks about the body but this books talks specifically about how those remaining deal with death. I was really surprised with how interesting and unusual the book was. I kept reading bits of it aloud to those around me and mentioning it in conversation. When you consider the topic of this book that's pretty impressive. Sweeney presented a wide variety of information in a way that was both extremely informative and retainable. I kind of feel like I'm an expert on funerary practices at the moment. I'm not sure when that will come in handy but if you want to know the differences in handling grief over the last 100 years I'm your girl. Sweeney is going on my short list of authors to keep an eye on. If she managed to make the subject of death fascinating, non-morbid and non-judgmental she could probably make just about any subject fascinating.
kaylana's review against another edition
4.0
I thoroughly enjoyed Sweeney's journey through America's deal with death and mourning.
"These stories about mourning's interior worlds build something bigger. Together their echoes resound, a small note in one place playing up another elsewhere on the map or elsewhere in time. We catch glimpses of something bigger--the biggest "something bigger" we can conceive of. A death landscape that's as deep as it is wide--more-over, the landscape of our lives themselves."
Death started out more overt in America--"The Good Death" influences of American evangelism and romanticism (keeping sex hidden). Now sex and death have swapped places. Sex is everywhere while death (grieving it) is supposed to be a private thing.
In chapter 3 Sweeney discusses the history of the cemetery and how they came about after churches and families got out of the business of burying the dead. They were designed to be visited by the living; they were maintained and looked more like parks than graveyards.
Chapter 4 Sweeney discusses the obituary. She focuses on professional obituary writers and the fans that follow them. They are truth seekers. They contact families and do their own investigations into the life of the deceased. The good, the bad, and the in-between are all laid out to bear.
"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. the second is when the body is consigned to the grave. the third is that moment, sometime in the future when your name is spoken for the last time."
The purpose of memorialization is to postpone the third death for as long as possible.
Green burials are discussed in chapter five. This is the way I'm thinking I'd like to be buried...get back to nature without the formaldehyde getting in the way...but there is something to be said for dealing with grief. Being able to see your loved one looking "good" before burial can do a lot for healing.
Chapter 6 discusses funeral homes and how they became an extension of what people used to do in their own homes...that parlor? Yeah, it was for hosting the memorial and viewing of our loved ones. But that got too gloomy so they became living rooms instead and the funeral homes took over.
Want to float with the fishes? Get your cremains infused into a coral reef ball and help nature all at once.
"Grief itself might be physically intangible, but people like having activities that create a tangible something out of this abstract emotion--especially activities that make us feel like we're helping shepherd life away from life."
Mourning is as different as people are. Each has her or his own variety. Memorial tattoos, roadside memorials, green burials, cremation and artificial reef balls, etc. It's a way for people to gradually let go; it's something to do until you don't need to anymore.
It was a fascinating look at the ways we grieve and mourn and how we don't but should.
"These stories about mourning's interior worlds build something bigger. Together their echoes resound, a small note in one place playing up another elsewhere on the map or elsewhere in time. We catch glimpses of something bigger--the biggest "something bigger" we can conceive of. A death landscape that's as deep as it is wide--more-over, the landscape of our lives themselves."
Death started out more overt in America--"The Good Death" influences of American evangelism and romanticism (keeping sex hidden). Now sex and death have swapped places. Sex is everywhere while death (grieving it) is supposed to be a private thing.
In chapter 3 Sweeney discusses the history of the cemetery and how they came about after churches and families got out of the business of burying the dead. They were designed to be visited by the living; they were maintained and looked more like parks than graveyards.
Chapter 4 Sweeney discusses the obituary. She focuses on professional obituary writers and the fans that follow them. They are truth seekers. They contact families and do their own investigations into the life of the deceased. The good, the bad, and the in-between are all laid out to bear.
"There are three deaths. The first is when the body ceases to function. the second is when the body is consigned to the grave. the third is that moment, sometime in the future when your name is spoken for the last time."
The purpose of memorialization is to postpone the third death for as long as possible.
Green burials are discussed in chapter five. This is the way I'm thinking I'd like to be buried...get back to nature without the formaldehyde getting in the way...but there is something to be said for dealing with grief. Being able to see your loved one looking "good" before burial can do a lot for healing.
Chapter 6 discusses funeral homes and how they became an extension of what people used to do in their own homes...that parlor? Yeah, it was for hosting the memorial and viewing of our loved ones. But that got too gloomy so they became living rooms instead and the funeral homes took over.
Want to float with the fishes? Get your cremains infused into a coral reef ball and help nature all at once.
"Grief itself might be physically intangible, but people like having activities that create a tangible something out of this abstract emotion--especially activities that make us feel like we're helping shepherd life away from life."
Mourning is as different as people are. Each has her or his own variety. Memorial tattoos, roadside memorials, green burials, cremation and artificial reef balls, etc. It's a way for people to gradually let go; it's something to do until you don't need to anymore.
It was a fascinating look at the ways we grieve and mourn and how we don't but should.
writerrhiannon's review against another edition
5.0
NPR Affiliate Producer Kate Sweeney Explores Americas Traditions and Trends Regarding Death in "American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning”
What originally began as a graduate thesis to explore why death dually fascinates and terrifies most Americans, eventually became the book "American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning." Atlantan Kate Sweeney was a fan of the HBO series "Six Feet Under," and found herself intrigued with "alternative" burials, as well as the Victorian memorial traditions of visiting cemetaries when courting, photographing the dead, and creating memorial jewlery incorporating the deceased's hair. She found that memorial photography was so popular at the end of the 19th century, not because of morbid fascination, but due to the fact that photography was a new technology and someone having their picture taken was rare. Family members chose to have have photos made of their dead relative because that person may have never had their photograph taken while they were alive. A memorial photograph could have been the only photograph ever taken of that person. As for memorial jewelry, the prevelance was more sentimental than factual. The hair of the deceased was woven into "bracelet chains, earrings, wreaths—even purses and tiaras." Hundreds of years before Pinterest, Victorian women’s magazines "featured vexingly difficult craft projects featuring hair."
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2014/03/american-afterlife.html
What originally began as a graduate thesis to explore why death dually fascinates and terrifies most Americans, eventually became the book "American Afterlife: Encounters in the Customs of Mourning." Atlantan Kate Sweeney was a fan of the HBO series "Six Feet Under," and found herself intrigued with "alternative" burials, as well as the Victorian memorial traditions of visiting cemetaries when courting, photographing the dead, and creating memorial jewlery incorporating the deceased's hair. She found that memorial photography was so popular at the end of the 19th century, not because of morbid fascination, but due to the fact that photography was a new technology and someone having their picture taken was rare. Family members chose to have have photos made of their dead relative because that person may have never had their photograph taken while they were alive. A memorial photograph could have been the only photograph ever taken of that person. As for memorial jewelry, the prevelance was more sentimental than factual. The hair of the deceased was woven into "bracelet chains, earrings, wreaths—even purses and tiaras." Hundreds of years before Pinterest, Victorian women’s magazines "featured vexingly difficult craft projects featuring hair."
Read my full review here: http://www.ivoryowlreviews.blogspot.com/2014/03/american-afterlife.html
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