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At forty-four, Tom Jokinen decided to quit his job in order to become an apprentice undertaker, setting out to ask the questions: What is the right thing to do when someone dies? With the marketplace offering new options (go green, go anti-corporate, go Disney, be packed into an artificial reef and dropped in the Atlantic..), is there still room for tradition? In a year of adventures both hair-raising and hilarious, Jokinen finds a world that is radically changed since Jessica Mitford revised The American Way of Death, more surprising than Six Feet Under, and even funnier and more illuminating than Stiff. If Bill Bryson were to apprentice at a funeral home, searching for the meaning of life and death, youd have Curtains.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Nordic Fascination with Death,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training (Hardcover)
Jokinen has written what has to be the most descriptive and revealing portrayal to date of the inner workings of a Canadian funeral home. Taking time off from his career at the CBC, he got a job as an assistant at a Winnipeg funeral parlour, with the intention of picking up a new skill set and discovering how Canadians are typically prepared for the big send-off. What I truly found amazing about his revelations is the personalized handling that goes into preparing a body for burial: dressing, embalming, shaving, trimming nails, applying cosmetics, casket arranging, and transportation. He describes in the most elaborately colorful and sometimes humorous detail how he and his fellow employees coped with the strain and stress of working with corpses all day long. Included in his investigative story is an explanation of how the cremation process actually works: from the placement of the body in the retort, to the actual immolation, to the sorting and packaging of the cremains. This is definitely an industry that is going through a major social change in how people are choosing to be disposed off. People like myself are opting for the significantly cheaper memorial plan where the body is cremated for less than $1500 rather than a $10k basic funeral. Reading this well-written book only confirms what I have always suspected about the funeral trade: too ostentatious and impractical for its own economic good. Less would do!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humorous and informative at the same time.,
By Phylis Sophical (Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training (Hardcover)
This turned out to be a 'can't put it down' kinda book. Jokinen has such a keen sense of observation and a very light hearted way of interpreting his findings. This is the perfect book to read long before one has to make those tough decisions. Why leave it up to industry to decide for us.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, well written a great read,
By
This review is from: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training (Hardcover)
I found this book by accident one day and thought it looked interesting, I couldnt put it down. Tom really breaks down what happens to us all when we finally die. I laughed really hard in places and also cried in places when he details the grief of people he sees. I got some really funny looks on the bus and train when reading this and even recommended it to one stranger who was so curious about what i was reading.A definate must read!
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