Vigor Mortis

by Kate Berridge

'Glitters with ideas and insights' Guardian In the twentieth century, our deaf ear to death mirrored the Victorian blind eye to sex. But death is finally out of the closet. This is a provocative account of how and why we have tamed the thing we most fear. But as death becomes the focus of a new permissiveness, does it signify healthy liberation? Are 'click' and 'buy' coffin websites and mourning television indicative of progress or a waning sensibility?

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Selene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it a lot. Shame it is twenty years out of date.

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating look at death and its place in current culture and how it's changed from being something that was seen (wakes, mourning clothes, the graveyard shortages in the UK) to being something that is swept under the carpet and not discussed to events like Diana's death and the public mourning that followed. Plus the changes from the church to the secular/eco-burial.

Thought-provoking and the further reading section is full of further books I'll be looking at.