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“Making an Exit: From the Magnificent to the Macabre – How We Dignify the Dead,” by Sarah Murray

The Washington Post
October 28, 2011

Book Review By Rachel Newcomb (Associate Professor of Anthropology, Rollins College)

It might seem odd to call journalist Sarah Murray’s latest book an “Eat, Pray, Love” for the afterlife. After all, the subject of “Making an Exit” isn’t quite one woman’s quest to find herself through eating, yoga and a relationship with a hot guy in an exotic locale. But there are parallels. Motivated by personal events (her father’s death), British author and Financial Times contributor Murray sets out on a world tour to better understand how the living send the dead on to their final resting places. Along the way, she offers cultural commentary on how we manage death in England and America. In the wrong hands, such a book could have turned into a celebration of the grotesque, yet Murray tackles an uncomfortable subject with sensitivity, humor and great insight.

Read the full article at The Washington Post

Thanks to the DeathCare Discussion List for altering us to this article.

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