Mitfords funny and unforgiving book is the best memento mori we are likely toget. It should be updated and reissued each decade for our spiritual health.The New... » 

Mitfords funny and unforgiving book is the best memento mori we are likely toget. It should be updated and reissued each decade for our spiritual health.The New York Review of BooksOnly the scathing wit and searching intelligence of Jessica Mitford could turnan expose of the American funeral industry into a book that is at once deadlyserious and sidesplittingly funny. When first published in 1963 this landmarkof investigative journalism became a runaway bestseller and resulted inlegislation to protect grieving families from the unscrupulous sales practicesof those in the dismal trade.Just before her death in 1996 Mitford thoroughly revised and updated herclassic study. The American Way of Death Revisited confronts new trendsincluding the success of the professions lobbyists in Washington inflatedcremation costs the telemarketing of payinadvance graves and the effects ofmonopolies in a deathcare industry now dominated by multinationalcorporations. With its hardnosed consumer activism and a satiric vision out ofEvelyn Waughs novel The Loved One The American Way of Death Revisited willnot fail to inform delight and disturb.BrillianthilariousA mustread for anyone planning to throw a funeral intheir lifetime.New York PostWitty and penetratingit speaks the truth.The Washington Post «