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From Amazon
The American Way of Death Revisited is almost unforgivably funny. Jessica Mitford's exposé of the funeral industry, a number one bestseller upon first publication, is a model of muckraking--an almost incredible description of how undertakers in the U.S. assault people's souls and wallets. Before her death in 1996, Mitford devoted most of her energy to this revised edition of her masterwork, which zeroes in on funeral prepayment (the chapter is titled "Pay Now--Die Poorer"), the new multinational funeral corporations ("A Global Village of the Dead"), and the Federal Trade Commission's failure to enforce the laws the first edition of this book helped bring about. The book's greatest treasure is probably her shocking and hilarious description of exactly what happens in the process of embalming. Equally impressive, however, is her chapter called "The Nosy Clergy," which describes the collusion and competition between America's undertakers and its preachers. --Michael Joseph Gross
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
At the time of her death in 1996, Mitford had nearly completed this revision of her 1963 bestseller, a scathing critique of the U.S. funeral industry. Extensively revised, with subsequent additions by her husband, lawyer Robert Treuhaft, Lisa Carlson, an activist in the funeral-reform movement, and research assistant Karen Leonard, Mitford's mordant look at the excesses of the high-pressure salesmanship and lapses of taste of the "death-care industry" still rings true, and the book will evoke readers' ire. Mitford identifies disturbing new trends: cremation, once a low-cost option, has become increasingly expensive as mortuaries pressure the bereaved to buy a "traditional" funeral with all the accoutrements. Monopolistic companies have moved into the field and now account for 20% of the nation's funerals. Furthermore, she charges, the Federal Trade Commission's lax enforcement of its 1984 rule banning morticians' deceptive practices has contributed to an upward spiral of prices and profits. Other developments of the 1990s perceptively analyzed here include the refusal of many funeral directors to embalm AIDS victims and the growing popularity of low-cost funeral and memorial service organizations, which are listed in an appendix.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
How can death be sooo funny?,
By
This review is from: The American Way of Death Revisited (Paperback)
Leave it to Jessica Mitford, who died in 1996, to make the subject of death and the American funeral industry so hilarious. First published to huge acclaim in 1963, The American Way of Death was revised and updated by Mitford, who nearly finished it by the time she died. Her lawyer husband, Robert Treuhaft, completed it with the help of some research assistants. Even a quick and cursory read of this book will make you take out a membership in the Neptune Society as a preemptive strike against high-pressure tactics of funeral home directors to get people (caught as their weakest as they are grieving over someone's death) to spend, spend, spend "to honor the memory of your dearly departed."Mitford was known as the Original Muckraker for her habit of always speaking the truth, calling a spade a spade, and for probing into the cozy relationship between politicians, morticians, monopolistic ownership policies, the FTC, and federal lobbyists. Interesting, updated, still drop dead (pun intended) funny, endlessly informative, witty and well-written with refreshing bluntness, The American Way of Death once again deserves to be read by everyone. And there's a terrific and informative appendix at the end.
5.0 out of 5 stars
The American Way of Death Revisited,
By A Customer
This review is from: The American Way of Death Revisited (Paperback)
Comprehensive and realistic look at an industry that will never go out of business as long as people die.
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Must Read,
By
This review is from: The American Way of Death Revisited (Paperback)
Jessica Mitford delivers an excellent work that delves into the business of dealing with the dead (now called "death care"). It is a must read as it is a life event we will all face at some point in our lives and our dealings with loved ones. I know that looking back on when I had to arrange a funeral, I even though it was to be a Jewish funeral and dispensed with ornate coffins and definitely closed coffin, I can see how because I was uninformed I agreed to services that were just not needed, because I was told that it was "the law." I now know quite a bit more about what is fact and what are upselling techniques. Jessica Mitford does an outstanding job. The update is odd because it is hard to know when the book is referring to the early 1960's or to the late 1990's.
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