Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #296454 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 200 pages

Synopsis
You are dead. It's not a great thought, but you are living on borrowed time. Face it, your life is heading towards an immovable object - your death. It may be a spectacular death, you might make the headlines, but then again, it's more likely to be of natural causes, an accident or, in the case of men, suicide. But it's not just you, everyone's in the same boat. You are dying, you will die, and so will everyone else you know. At some point in the future, you will cease to physically exist and that will be that. You'll probably have the average funeral, something traditional and inappropriate, and one terribly depressing for those who turn out. But what do you care? After all, you're dead. "Get Dead", a guide to death, takes a good hard look at the subject and asks people in the death business what they think. A nurse, forensic policeman, pathologist, embalmer, funeral directors, lawyer, a husband and wife freelance grave-digging team, religious and not-so religious figures all share their experiences, tales and feelings on this most certain yet baffling of subjects. On top of the dozens of interviews, it also includes a bewildering range of facts, stats and information about death.

And then, if that wasn't enough, there's practical, economic and legal advice. And a load of contacts should you need them. It's not a sad book, far front it. Like virtually all interviewees told the author...at the end of the day, you've got to laugh.

Customer Reviews

Refreshingly funny and insightful book tackling the taboo of death.
Really interesting interviews with people in the 'trade' from crime scene police officers to undertakers and grave diggers, includes great photography aswell which makes this an all round excellent read. But beyond the humor there's a veritable feast of facts and figures which will astound and amaze you. There's also some serious advice and guidance at the back of the book which is a really good source of information. My advice? Buy it.

But I'm not dead yet??!!
When I saw this book advertised and read the synopsis for some reason I thought about Monty Python "The Meaning of Life" and the sketch where they were collecting the dead. One poor man wasn't quite dead as he was thrown onto the back of the cart and he was calling out "excuse me, but I'm not dead yet" but they were taking no notice of him. A random thought I know but one appropriate to this book - we are not dead yet but at some point we all will be. The author tackles the subject of death from all angles and the interviews make informative and compelling reading. I did not set out to buy a book on death, sorry but I was originally looking for the new book by the chef who shares the same name, but I was intrigued by the unusual and witty approach to this subject and can honestly say that I am glad I brought as it made my morning commute to work a lot more enjoyable! A great stocking filler for any other commuters out there!!

Grateful Undead
I enjoyed this book just as I tend to enjoy programmes on TV like CSI. It did not live up to the "laugh? I almost died!" write-up it suggests is contained in the book. I thought it a rather serious book. This was not a problem as it gave lots of facts about death and sometimes wandered into a very weak link with death, i.e. airports named after people whose name begins with J!(?) On the whole, it had lots of info for those who enjoy this sort of topic.