Books › From Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity
295 pages
A darkly funny, deeply respectful global tour of how we care for our dead that leaves you feeling surprisingly comforted about your own mortality.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a globe-trotting trip with your smartest, most delightfully morbid friend. It moves at a brisk, engaging clip, blending travelogue with cultural anthropology and a healthy dose of wry humor. Despite the heavy subject matter, the atmosphere is never oppressive; instead, it is bathed in a warm, inquisitive light that strips away the clinical dread usually associated with mortality. The prose is conversational and witty, yet always maintains a profound respect for the deceased and their mourning families. It is a deeply comforting read for anyone looking to dismantle their fear of death, offering a surprisingly uplifting emotional arc that replaces anxiety with awe and a sense of shared human connection.
- Mood
- morbidly curious
- reflective
- surprisingly uplifting
- Tone
- wry
- respectful
- inquisitive
- empathetic
- darkly comedic
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- confronting mortality · cultural relativity of grief · reclaiming death · the commercialization of mourning
- The writing
- Accessible, witty, and conversational, balancing macabre details with deep reverence.
- The arc
- Moves from morbid curiosity to a profound, comforting acceptance of our shared mortality.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love morbid trivia, cultural anthropology, and dark humor, but also seek a healthier relationship with death.
Content notes
- death and dying
- dead bodies
- grief
- decay
- funerary practices
About the book
Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty embarks on a global expedition to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Zoroastrian sky burials to wish-granting Bolivian skulls, she investigates the world’s funerary customs and expands our sense of what it means to treat the dead with dignity. Her account questions the rituals of the American funeral industry—especially chemical embalming—and suggests that the most effective traditions are those that allow mourners to personally attend to the body of the deceased. Exquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, From Here to Eternity is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a fascinating tour through the unique ways people everywhere confront mortality.
Description from Open Library.
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