- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Random House Canada; First Edition edition (Mar 9 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307355683
- ISBN-13: 978-0307355683
- Product Dimensions: 22.9 x 14.7 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#80,871 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #35 in Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Sociology > Death
- See Complete Table of Contents
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
“You’d hardly expect a book about the disposal of the dead to be funny, but . . . [Jokinen] manages to inject plenty of humour into his examination of a service we’ll all be needing one of these days.”
— Times Colonist
"What [Jokinen] has produced is absorbing, at times cringe-inducing, thought-provoking and illuminating. In other words, a great read."
— Ottawa Citizen
"[A] revealing and respectful book."
— Winnipeg Free Press
"Curtains is a frequently amusing book. The death business requires a sense of humour . . . and Jokinen has a deft comic touch."
— National Post
"Lively and literate. . . . a book about . . . the pleasures of good writing, close observation, a thoughtful voice, a well-told story, a loving if skeptical take on reality, a detailed sense of irony and humour, a thirst for exploration. In all, it is a fine piece of work."
— The Globe and Mail
“Intuitively answers all the questions that you’d never ask aloud. . . . It’s great reading.”
— The Coast (Halifax)
From the Trade Paperback edition.
“You’d hardly expect a book about the disposal of the dead to be funny, but . . . [Jokinen] manages to inject plenty of humour into his examination of a service we’ll all be needing one of these days.”
— Times Colonist
"What [Jokinen] has produced is absorbing, at times cringe-inducing, thought-provoking and illuminating. In other words, a great read."
— Ottawa Citizen
"[A] revealing and respectful book."
— Winnipeg Free Press
"Curtains is a frequently amusing book. The death business requires a sense of humour . . . and Jokinen has a deft comic touch."
— National Post
"Lively and literate. . . . a book about . . . the pleasures of good writing, close observation, a thoughtful voice, a well-told story, a loving if skeptical take on reality, a detailed sense of irony and humour, a thirst for exploration. In all, it is a fine piece of work."
— The Globe and Mail
“Intuitively answers all the questions that you’d never ask aloud. . . . It’s great reading.”
— The Coast (Halifax)
From the Trade Paperback edition.
Product Description
If Bill Bryson were to join a Winnipeg funeral home as an apprentice, and if he searched for the meaning of life and death while he was at it, you'd have Curtains - enlightening, full of life in the midst of death, and very funny.
"There's a time, from when someone dies to when they magically pop up at the funeral or as a bag of ashes, that remains a black hole, invisible to civilians, and they're happy with that arrangement. My job covers that gap."
At forty-four Tom Jokinen began to seriously question the secular funeral rites that are taking over the industry: is this really the way we want to say our final goodbyes? The question had such a hard grip on his Finnish soul that he decided to quit his job in order to become an apprentice undertaker. Curtainsis about what he found, from the mundane to the macabre. Among the things he learned: in cremation, the heart and head are the last parts to burn; purple lipstick looks best on a dead man; funeral directors have been known to dance during the service - out of sight of funeral goers, of course, and with the utmost respect for the dead. For anyone who's secretly wondered why they paid $2000 for a 5-lb bag of dust - or questioned whether that dust was really the person they loved - Curtains lifts the veil on the funeral industry in the 21st century.
"There's a time, from when someone dies to when they magically pop up at the funeral or as a bag of ashes, that remains a black hole, invisible to civilians, and they're happy with that arrangement. My job covers that gap."
At forty-four Tom Jokinen began to seriously question the secular funeral rites that are taking over the industry: is this really the way we want to say our final goodbyes? The question had such a hard grip on his Finnish soul that he decided to quit his job in order to become an apprentice undertaker. Curtainsis about what he found, from the mundane to the macabre. Among the things he learned: in cremation, the heart and head are the last parts to burn; purple lipstick looks best on a dead man; funeral directors have been known to dance during the service - out of sight of funeral goers, of course, and with the utmost respect for the dead. For anyone who's secretly wondered why they paid $2000 for a 5-lb bag of dust - or questioned whether that dust was really the person they loved - Curtains lifts the veil on the funeral industry in the 21st century.
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Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who knew funerals could be funny,
By
This review is from: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training (Hardcover)
Allan Ball has nothing on Tom Jokinen. This is way better. Even though it's a book. Informative too. Fabulous. Must read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Future planning,
By
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Everyman's,
By
This review is from: Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker-in-Training (Hardcover)
A well written insightful book of an 'Everyman's ' short apprenticeship with the industry.
It's probably not surprising how little many people know about the ' process ' involved with prepping and presenting the last remains. The book whetted my curiosity to research further.
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