I always re-read The American Way of Death around the Fourth of July. I’m not sure why, I just do. This classic expose of the American funeral industry kind of summarizes so many of the things wrong with America and American attitudes, from the rampant capitalism to the greedy desire to expand into other countries, reforming their ideas about the funeral, death, and burial in the interest of shoveling more money into the coffers of the death care industry.

If you haven’t read this book, you really should. It was radical when it came out in 1963, and it’s still relevant today, if not more radical; I happen to have a revised edition, which includes a bunch of material Mitford added before her own death in the late 1990s. It’s a cold, clear look at the way we handle funerals, and it contains a lot of information which may interest or surprise consumers.

Some parts are graphic, like the famous description of the embalming process, and others are sad, like Mitford’s reprints of letters sent to her by grieved and cheated consumers. Throughout, the book has the famous Mitford wit, which aptly pierces the armor of the funeral industry with a few well-timed jabs. This book was the first book about the world of the American funeral I ever read, and it planted the seeds of my own funeral plans, which do not involve any funeral home whatsoever, let alone the barbaric practice of embalming and the garish horror of the commercial funeral.

I’m not the only person who felt that way after reading The American Way of Death; the book spawned huge reforms, many of which have unfortunately been weakened over the decades, and I think it was the inspiration behind the do it yourself funeral movement, which is pretty awesome, if you ask me.

Demographics:

The American Way of Death Revisited, by Jessica Mitford. Published 1998, 282 pages. Sociology.