Non-Fiction Annotation

 

Title: All the Living and the Dead: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work 

Author: Haley Campbell 

Publication Date: 2022

Genre: Non-fiction 

Number of Pages: 288

Geographical Setting: Primarily the UK, Australia, and the United States

Time Period: contemporary 

Series: n/a

Summary/Subject: Campbell introduces the book with an explanation that she has been interested in death from a young age, partially due to her father's profession as a comics illustrator and the graphic images he would keep in his office for reference material while working on a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper. The book is then divided into chapters, each chapter serving as an exploration of a different death industry centering on a single member of the profession being discussed. For example, the chapter about bodies donated to medicine focuses on the man who runs the Mayo Clinic's donation program. The chapters include practical details about the profession - e.g. what kinds of donors are accepted, what procedures have been practiced on them, what happens to the bodies after they've served their purpose, how the bodies are prepared and stored, etc. However, a lot of what Campbell interviews her subjects about involves their personal feelings about death, if and how their jobs have affected them or their outlook on life and dying, and how they cope. 

In order, the chapters are about: a funeral director, the head of a medical donation program, an artist who makes death masks, a mass-casualty event consultant, a crime scene cleaner, a state executioner, an embalmer, an anatomical pathology technologist, a bereavement midwife who delivers still-born or terminal babies, a gravedigger, the owner of a crematorium, and the president of a cryonics company. 

Subject Headings: 

Death care industry.

Death -- Economic aspects.

Death -- Psychological aspects.

Funeral rites and ceremonies.

Narrative Continuum: Expository with a small narrative thread (Each chapter details a different profession, some more narrative than others, but there is a through-line regarding the author's evolving understanding of death and her own motivations). 

Appeal:

• Pacing: Leisurely-paced; each chapter stands alone, and the writing is more reflective and explanatory rather than gripping. It's easy to pick up and put down as the reader pleases. 
• Characters: Campbell herself is the main character, as the reader is in her head for the majority of the book - she makes observations and philosophizes as she experiences the industry she's writing about. Each chapter then has one or two experts being interviewed and giving a tour of their work - these people range from being deeply sympathetic to slightly off-putting. 
• Feel: Despite being about death, the tone is never particularly morbid. The tone is a little distant, a little reflective or curious, and overall respectful and informative. There are a few moments that are deeply emotionally moving, and a few that are uncomfortable. 
• Intent: The author is clear that her intent is to create more understanding about what happens after death, and to demystify it to make it less scary. She makes the very interesting point that our society is so uncomfortable with death that it makes it hard to grieve - we're split between mourning our loss and trying to deny the reality that death is inevitable and natural. 
• Focus: The focus of each chapter is about a particular industry, as well as an individual and how they're impacted by what they do. The focus of the book in general is societal attitudes towards death, dying, and the processes involved. 
• Language: The language varies depending on what is being discussed. When describing bodies and actions happening to bodies, the language is clinical - it isn't gory, but it does get graphic. The author clearly tries to stay away from shock value but is dedicated to honest descriptions. Otherwise, the language is still clear and straightforward, but is the writing becomes more passionate and thoughtful. 
• Setting: The interviews take place in the US, the UK, and Australia. This matters a great deal because obviously death rites are deeply cultural, and the setting determines what the prevailing attitudes are and what industries are at play. 
• Details: There are a lot of details; the point of the book is to give readers insight into industries that are purposefully overlooked and to pull the "spooky" curtain back. While there are no charts or images, the daily lives of the interview subjects and the procedures they perform are described well. 
• Learning, understanding, or experience: This book prioritizes understanding - there are definite moments of learning, in that the reader does get a lot of facts. However the point of the learning is to more deeply understand death as a concept and to change attitudes towards it. 

Why would a reader enjoy this book? (Ranked): 

1. They are interested in death as a concept, or are maybe uncomfortable with death and are looking for a straight-forward examination of it. 
2. They are curious about relatively unknown professions and industries that revolve around death. 
3. They are interested in the differing philosophies about how death is discussed in modern societies and whether that needs to change. 

Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors:

• From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death by Caitlin Doughty: A mortician travels the world, investigating funeral rites in many different cultures. This book would appeal to readers who enjoyed the subject matter and philosophical focus of All the Living and the Dead, and who are interested in learning more about non-Western practices and attitudes. 

• Dark Archives: A Librarian's Investigation Into the Science and History of Books Bound in Human Skin by Megan Rosenbloom: A member of The Order of the Good Death and founder of the Death Salon writes about the practice of biding books in human skin, and of the science behind testing such claims, as well as thinking through what such practices mean. As far as books about death go, this is the ultimate example - a book about books encased in death. 

• We're All Going to Die by Leah Kaminsky: Seen through the eyes of a GP working with the living (and dying) rather than those in the death industry, this book has the same underlying thought - that by accepting death, we're capable of living better. 

Relevant Fiction Works and Authors:

• From Hell by Alan Moore (graphic novel): Campbell credits her obsession with death to her father's illustrations for this graphic novel. Those who enjoyed All the Living and the Dead specifically for our narrator/main character might be interested to learn more about her past and what influenced her the most. 

• The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier: This sci-fi novel asks the question "what does it mean to die?" Are we dead when our bodies end, or are we dead when people no longer remember us? There is a City where recently departed souls live, and they vanish when they are completely forgotten. The souls are dead but they still fear what comes next - asking if we're afraid of dying, or the unknown. 

• Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders: A speculation on what sort of journey the soul of Abraham Lincoln's son might have experienced after his death, this book is thoughtful, moving, and deals with the acceptance of death and the beauty of life. It also deals with the discomfort Americans have with the practicalities of death - the way we dress up bodies and embalm and bury and try to deny what dying actually is. 

Relevant Multimedia tie-ins: 

• The Bloody Inn (board game): While this board game absolutely lacks the reverence and thoughtfulness of All the Living and the Dead, it does place the player in the position of being both executioner and gravedigger. Players are part of a horrible family that owns an inn, and who has decided to increase their profits by murdering the occasional guest to pick their pockets. It's all about resource allocation, as you only have enough actions in a round to do a very limited number of things - so you'd better make sure you have enough time to bury that body before the police come snooping around. This game would appeal to those who are comfortable with death and even find a bit of comfort and humor in the grim reality. 

• Pushing Daisies (tv series): A romantic and surprisingly cozy comedy about a pie-maker who has the ability to temporarily raise the dead with a touch.  This show would similarly appeal to readers who enjoy thoughtful - but not morbid - reflections about death. 

• A Mortician's Tale (video game): This is called a "death-positive," "honest," and "sometimes humorous" by creators and reviewers, which certainly describes the book as well. You take on the role of a newly-minted mortician running a funeral home, and you perform tasks such as embalming as well as talking to the bereaved. It's a short game, but full of emotional impact as players are asked to confront negative feelings and examine where those feelings come from. 

• Alternate Endings: Six New Ways to Die in America (documentary): This documentary, on HBO, explores alternates to the typical Western death industry - namely embalming, burial, and/or cremation. Campbell writes passionately about how she doesn't believe that our current norm (embalming and funerals) are honest enough, and that they seem more about profit-making and denial of reality than true engagement with death as a concept. This documentary offers interesting options that people might not be aware of.