Death: An Oral History

by Casey Jarman

In this illuminating collection of oral-history style interviews, Casey Jarman talks to a funeral industry watchdog about the (often shady) history of the death trade; he hears how songwriter David Bazan lost his faith while trying to hold on to his family; he learns about cartoonist Art Spiegelman using his college LSD trips to explain death to his children; and he gets to know his own grandparents, posthumously. These are stories of loss, rebuilding, wonder, and wild speculation featuring everyone from philosophers to former death row wardens and hospice volunteers. In these moving, enlightening, and often funny conversations, the end is only the beginning.

Genres: Nonfiction, Death, History, Memoir, Oral History, Short Stories

352 pages, Hardcover

First published August 2, 2016

Reviews

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'd go as far as to say it's the best book I've ever written. I MEAN READ! READ! Oh now I've blown my cover...

[DW]

I read this on advice of a friend to confront this topic. I must admit it was hard.

I suspected I'd read this book in a hurry. Skipping over parts that made me uncomfortable. However, the people that share their stories come from such a wide variety of perspectives and speak with such honesty that I was pulled in. I read slowly, page by page.

It was a hard book but a great book. The discussion of the absence of ritual and the need to reinvent it on our own terms really hit home.

[Candace]

This will be the second book ever that I have not given a star rating, but I highly recommend everyone read this!

It is difficult to rate due to it being a collection of interviews with various people about their views on and personal experiences with death. There’s no order to adhere to, and Casey Jarman’s contribution was to conduct the interviews and introduce the interviewees at the beginning of their sections. There is no critique to be made about writing style or anything I’d normally rate a book for.

Instead, I’ll say I cried and nodded my head in recognition multiple times, and I really appreciated how much discussion there was surrounding the predatory nature of the funeral industry as well as the inclusion of someone who used to work on Death Row (who happens to be from Arkansas!)

[Isa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a random one I picked up at the library. As someone who has just experienced a recent death, it was very challenging to get through content-wise. However, I would recommend it to anyone when confronting different perspectives on death. Some perspectives I particularly enjoyed were those of video game designer Zach Wilson and our relationship with death and killing in video games alongside Jana DeCristofaro from the Dougy Center for Grieving Children & Families.

[Rick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will probably read this again. The author interviewed people with wide ranging perspectives about death and dying including a former death row warden, a funeral home director, a funeral "customer advocate" and even someone who helped make first person shooter videogames. Very fascinating.

[Loren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spectrum of people who are interviewed in this book is impressive. They range from someone who's researching composting humans to a former death row warden who has become an anti-death penalty advocate. Particularly fascinating to me were the talk with a hospice volunteer who doesn't shy from discussing the deaths of strangers and the interview of philosopher Simon Critchley, who has so many interesting things to say that I'm going to track down his books.

The interview with the woman who wants to start a psychedelic hospice, where the dying can trip out as they come to terms with their mortality, was really intriguing, but unfortunately short on details. A pipe dream, you might say.

Some of the pieces where people face their grief are wrenching to read. Some of the interviews drift far from death, particularly the talk with Art Spiegelman, which ends up being more about life as a cartoonist when I wanted to hear about his experiences facing death on psychedelics. Others grow repetitive. For my taste, those could have been shortened. I have to admit I skimmed in places.

Full disclosure: Casey interviewed me for the book in August 2015. I wasn't paid for the interview and had to buy my own copy of the book, but I'm glad I did. It contains much food for thought.

[Shaun · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free through a Goodreads First Reads Giveaway.

The first word that comes to mind after finishing this book is...brilliant! Casey Jarman does a brilliant job of bringing together vastly different people from vastly different backgrounds and histories to put together an oral history of death that is engaging, funny, philosophical, sad, enraging and leads the reader to an introspective look at their own thoughts on life and death. It isn't so much a "history" as it is a look at the impacts of death and dying on individuals today.

Included in the book are interviews the author did himself and told in the first person by those interviewed. The interviewees included are artists, a social worker, a consumer rights advocate, a cartoonist, a video game designer and a former death row warden; among others. Each interview gives a unique perspective on death and dying from individuals that are somehow impacted by death and dying in society. That can be through advocacy, working in the death and dying industry (think funeral parlors), personal loss and so on.

The brilliance of the grouping of interviews is that you are given such a wide range of perspective from such a wide range of people. There isn't any repetitiveness in the interviews from one person to the next. That keeps the reader interested in what comes next. The book is not morbid. It speaks of the topics surrounding death in a respectful and enlightening way, not a negative and gloomy way.

If you have any interest in human thought on death and dying, enjoy individual essays on people's personal thoughts (in particular to the subject, but in general as well) or you enjoy a unique perspective on a too little talked about subject, do yourself a favor and pick up this book.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is just... so much... in here. The scope and variety of the interviews range from personal to professional, practical to philosophical, angry to serious to amused.

For something that affects literally everyone, death really gets ignored rather a lot. The fundamentals of it, anyway. As the video game designer gets into, the idea of “a death” isn’t unfamiliar to us at all, but it’s a statistic or a sterile anecdote. We are missing the processes of dying, death, mourning, and grief. This isn’t exactly surprising, since the beginning of life is substantively ignored as well, despite birth also quite literally affecting every person on the planet. Are these beginnings and endings too messy? Too hard? Too traditionally female? What gives?

[Cindy Pham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Death is a topic that's seldom discussed, but has a plethora of different philosophies and perspectives depending on who you ask - this book serves as a gateway to that, and is a good introduction to get people to start thinking and talking. While not every interview is super impactful, at least one story is sure to resonate with a reader. There were some interviews that I wish were more in-depth, particularly the ones that dive into race and activism, but other than that, Jarman's book is a solid starting point to the fascinating and complex topic.

[Ashod · Rating 5 out of 5]

GOD DAMN! This book! It took me forever to pick it up because, let's be honest, I am not a fan of death. Still ain't but this book steps so gingerly into the depths that you almost don't mind being engulfed by it. I cried a bunch but it felt good. Super heavy but so is the world so...

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the matters of the heart most. Like, the interview with the uncle about his deceased wife. I reeeeeeally liked that chapter a lot. Then the one about the Portland Don't Shoot organizer. That was also jaw dropping. But overall, I was wondering, kind of, "This sounds like something I would think would be a cool idea and try to do, but it also feels like it only really achieved it on the level that even I'd be able to execute." Like, it should've been better. I don't mean "I could've done that!" but like I expected a little more research and conspiratorial design. This was just interviews with people the guy knew in Portland. Branch out, bruh! This might've been even better if it was just his relatives, even, since I liked that chapter the most. The suicide one also hit pretty close to home. Anyway, that's my thought!

[Rebekah Hickson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was interesting. Honestly, I bought it for the cover but I'm glad I read it. Like other reviews have said, I wish there were people outside of the Portland area interviewed, I think it could have brought in some really interesting perspectives. There were some interviews I enjoyed more than others but like in life, I suppose, death takes all kinds. I would be interested to know what questions the author asked or what they gave the subjects to prompt them during their interviews since each subject's section is just the subject's words.

There are parts that I'll probably read again and parts that I might even use going forward when dealing with death in my own life. I have already recommended this book to a few people but if you read it on the train, be ready for a few strange looks.

[Esutterlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Essays or oral histories giving a variety of people's personal experiences of or observations about death and grieving written by a number of authors, a grief services coordinator, someone who lost his twin, a songwriter, social worker, hospice volunteer, community organizer, cartoonist, former death row warden, etc.

[Alexander H Knight · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book seemed more about grief than death which in retrospect makes sense I enjoy that theses people were so willing to talk about death it was almost refreshing and I did have to drag myself through a couple of the stories but the other stories were really good and got me thinking and I even related to some overall it was an interesting book about how people deal with death

[superawesomekt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now that I've finished this book, I feel that I would love to own this, but I also wouldn't want a precocious preteen/teen reading it (which I was myself), so I might just have to check it out from the library periodically (unless I create my own giftschrank? Check out the 99 percent invisible podcast if you don't know what that is). This is such a wonderful and unique book, but most definitely not for a juvenile or language-sensitive reader. It is a little Portland-centric in the choice of its subjects for interview, but since I'm a new transplant to Portland, this was not a mark against it. There was one interview from a musician that seemed more faith-focused than death-focused, but I could tell the author was a fanboy, so I humored him (also it was still an interesting interview, if a little off-topic).

This book gave me so much to consider and has a strong spirit of optimism and courage, in spite of its at-times rough material. There were several times as I read it that I wanted to write a letter to the person being interviewed or to the author to say "thank you for sharing this" or "I feel this way, too!" or just to give a figurative hug. I don't agree with many of the beliefs and opinions of those interviewed, but then I was also surprised by how many times I felt a connection to someone dissimilar to me. This is a very tender and special book.

original:
I heard the author interviewed on public radio and was interested enough to request it through the library. It's fascinating so far. Obviously it's a heavy theme, but the range of interviews gives it another level of depth. I should mention that there is a lot of mature content/language, so be advised.

[Brandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting read to be sure, but it was a little more loosely compiled than I had anticipated. Also, I often experienced anxiety while reading due to my own hangups about death.

[Tamara · Rating 4 out of 5]

got this mostly for the David Bazan interview, but the rest of them were pretty enlightening too.

[CawfeeDrinker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comforting. Conversational style makes the content accessible.

[Reagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

i thought this book was great. an interesting take on death from the perspective of so many different types of people. i look forward to reading this again in the future.

[Arkrayder · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved this book from Netgalley and Pulp/Zest Books in exchange in return for a fair and honest review.

I found this book hard to finish. I'm unsure why I found this as Casey Jarman does excellent work of bringing together different people from divergent backgrounds and walks of life to create an oral history of death that is at times funny, sad, and enraging. It is a look at the effect of death and dying on society today.

The author conducted the interviews himself and included are artists, a social worker, a cartoonist, a video game designer and a former death row warden; among others. One interview that for me didn't quiet fit was from a songwriter. I just found this interview jarring and I really wasn't interested in what he had to say. One of the best interviews was with Art Spiegelman, the creator of MAUS.

I didn't find the book morbid in any way. It treats the topics surrounding death in a respectful way, and keeps the tone light. Death: An Oral History was an interesting book and is worth a read.

[Jorene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each chapter was a fascinating interview with people who spend a lot of time thinking about death. Not at all depressing, in fact, it was uplifting and I'll be doing further research on many of the people and organizations mentioned in this book.

[Emma Lenke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible.

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. The different perspectives really make you think about why we think of death the way we do, or why we avoid thinking of it at all. I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway, and I was initially skeptical because it is described as a book of interviews, which can be an awkward setup. I was pleasantly surprised to find more of a series of essays than questions and answers. It was much easier to follow the flow of ideas than it would have been if it was constantly interrupted by questions. The conversational style was not lost, and you can get a feel for the people behind the words in each section.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a neat little collection of interviews. I learned a lot--for myself, the most fascinating and valuable interviews were those with people who dealt with death or aspects of it professionally. This could've benefitted from a better editor, there were a few superficial errors in the text itself, but an interesting collection.

I feel the need to add I was surprised how many presumably white Buddhist this guy knows? What's up with that.

[Crystal R · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book helped me process some things after my Mom's death. It helped to read other people's perspectives and thoughts on death; such a wide variety of people and backgrounds coming at this topic. There were a couple interviews that were really wordy and meandering and I thought they could have been edited down.

[Laura Valentine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not every interview is a "hit" but few don't resonate in some way.

[kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have appreciated a wider conversation with people from other cultures and other regions in the us... But very readable...

[Rikki King · Rating 4 out of 5]

A conversational and vulnerable exploration of the many ways death impacts us. Warm and familiar.

[Carly Lamphere · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the content, but as I was reading it I just kept thinking in the back of my mind "these would be great to listen to as a podcast". But it is a collection of transcribed oral histories so that's natural. Really interesting and provoking read, one of my favorites so far this year.