The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford, Virago, Ā£16.99,
ISBN 1860495885
MY late father wanted to donate his body to science. Unfortunately, by the
time medicine had finished with it, science didnāt want it. Ever thorough, he
had a second preference, for the simplest possible disposal.
Funeral director: ā You insist on cremation?ā āThat was his wish.ā āAnd a
cardboard casket?ā āThat was his wish.ā āBut wouldnāt the family like a
viewing?ā āNo.ā āBut then how can you be sure that you are, um, cremating the
right remains?ā āWeāll maybe hire a philosopher on that.ā āDonāt you want to
ensure that, er, it is done promptly (and spend just a little more)?ā āHeās in
no hurry.ā
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Have you ever heard an undertaker curse?
In 1963, Jessica Mitford chronicled the even more exploitative American
funeral industry. She pointed out, with trademark dry macabre wit, the utterly
bizarre ceremonies which are the outcomes of its marketingāsuch as the
incineration of expensively embalmed corpses in expensive metal pressure-cooker
coffins. (Which translates as āthe calcination of hygienically-treated remains
of the loved ones in bronze sealer casketsā.)
She died in 1996, as McDeath was arriving in Britain in the shape of
SCIā Service Corporation Internationalāintent on raising
expenditures on our final parties closer to the respectable level of $20
000, bronze sealer included.
The American Way of Death Revisited is thus, most appropriately,
published posthumously. Everyone who expects to die, or is related to someone
who may do so, should read it now. And may your corpse, and theirs, be fit for
and appreciated by medical students.
