There's some great human interest profiling in Hayley Campbell's All the Living and the Dead, which is about death professionals and our culture's sometimes-fraught relationship with various death industries under late state capitalism. I appreciate the work Campbell put in to find an actual (retired) executioner, for example, and the chapter on bereavement midwifery care was respectful and moving while raising awareness of these sensitive services. Other chapters, such as the one about embalming and the one in a crematorium, reminded me of better work I've read by other writers. I thought she could have included less of herself and more historical context at times, but I think it's a very readable work on modern death culture. It includes citations, further reading suggestions, and an index.

I must say that if you have a queasy stomach or an aversion to graphic descriptions of deceased people, you may want to avoid this book, otherwise, if those things don't bother you, this is the book for you. I fall somewhere in between those two, I found some parts of the book a bit disturbing, especially the description of the baby, it stayed with the author and I found myself thinking about it as well. The author has a fascination with death, apparently even as a young one. There is a statement in the book that the first dead person you see should not be a loved one, not sure how you would avoid that in life, the first deceased person I saw was my grandmother, though her death was expected (she had a form of dementia and did not know anyone when she passed), I still found it distressing to view her. The author takes us to the Mayo clinic to talk to a person that deals with bodies that are donated for scientific purposes, very enlightening. She also talks to a fellow that was the head executioner of his state, first when they used an electric chair (which set the leg and head of the first person they executed after not doing one for about 20 years, on fire) then with drugs. She also talks to a fellow that creates death masks, something that was more common way back in the 14 century. Each section deals with someone who is dealing with a dead person, including funeral directors, midwives who birth babies not expected to live, people that cremate people and people that freeze people to be, hopefully, woken some day. All very interesting and I would recommend if you are bother by that type of stuff. Thanks to #Netgalley and #St Martins for the ARC.

All the Living and the Dead is a phenomenal nonfiction look at death by journalist Hayley Campbell. The description of the book sounded depressing yet morbidly fascinating, so I gave it a shot. I was surprised at how compelling it actually was! None of us are getting out of this world alive, and it was interesting to see how those who work in the death industry deal with the deceased. It was somewhat morbid (and definitely "icky" at times), but it was also life-affirming, too. It takes some special people to work in this industry.

Ms. Campbell's father was a comic book artist and dealt with some gory topics, such as Jack the Ripper and his victims. This inspired her to draw pictures concerning death as a child. She had a fascination with death. When a friend of hers drowned and she wasn't allowed to see the body, she began to wonder why death was feared. After all, she wondered, if we weren't allowed to see the dead, how do we know why death is supposed to be feared?

In her search for answers, Ms. Campbell investigated those involved in the death industry. She wanted to know how they choose their professions and how their lives were affected by it. In her research, she talked to those in the following areas:

Funeral Director
Director of Anatomical Services
Death Mask Sculptor
Disaster Victim Identification
Crime Scene Cleaner
Executioner
Embalmer
Anatomical Pathology Technologist
Bereavement Midwife
Gravedigger
Crematorium Operator
Cryonics Institute

Ms. Campbell didn't just interview people...she actually participated! She helped dress a deceased man, watched someone be embalmed, and held a brain in her hand. That's above and beyond the call of duty! Some of the interviewees affirmed my faith in mankind. The funeral director was a kind man and made sure of the deceased's dignity. The director of anatomical services (medical students using donated bodies) did the same. He respected those willing to donate their bodies to science in order to save others. The person who touched me the most, however, was the bereavement midwife, who dealt with women who were to deliver a deceased child or a child not expected to survive. That particular chapter had me in tears. Some families wanted to hold their lost baby, while others had no desire to have the memory of seeing their child dead. Memory boxes (pictures of the little one and footprints) were offered. This broke my heart, yet this amazing woman made it her life's work to help these families.

The disaster victim identification program just boggled my mind; the scope of their work was unbelievable. Can you imagine having to pick up the pieces (literally!) after a major disaster such as a plane crash, and then identify them?! The interviewed gravediggers dug the graves for their mothers and since they were family plots, they actually dug their own graves. The crime scene cleaner was, in a word, weird. The executioner ended the lives of 62 people, and his wife wasn't aware he did so. I know there is no way I could work in any of the discussed professions.

I really found this book fascinating. The author did a marvelous job in her research and interviews. I didn't care for some of her beliefs, such as the lack of an afterlife and her opinions on religion and capitalism. But otherwise I found the entire book highly interesting. It also made me think of my own mortality. Though I'm grateful to those who donate their bodies to science, I cannot abide the thought of my body being cut up and handled. After the description of the tools used in embalming, well, count me out. Yeah, I'm good with my decision of cremation.

I received an ARC of this book courtesy of the publisher and NetGalley. I received no compensation for my review, and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Hayley Campbell has written a book that everyone ought to read.
It is about death and how humans traverse that time from death to grave.
Not the families although they are part of the story, but rather those people who care for us after we die. The undertaker, the EMT, the Nurses, The grave diggers, the reconstructors , the Coroners, The Detectives, The crematorium operator. the Disaster specialists.
It is all so well written as she interviews these people in their place of work. How much empathy these people have for the body they are caring for.
It also a thought provoking journey into your own take away from these stories. Do you wonder what happens at the funeral home? Do you wonder what happens at the crematorium? Does this book and it’s myriad of information influence how you view death?
I think it will for most people.
I highly recommend. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me this ARC.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for access to this arc

CW – murder, suicide, death of children, miscarriage, detailed description of autopsies (adult and child), discussion of executions.

Review

I’ve read a lot of non-fiction books about death but this was a tough one. For people who think they might be interested in it – *really* read the blurb. And then read the introduction and decide if the topics are ones you feel you can handle and if Campbell is a writer who you feel comfortable with to lead you through them. This book is not for the faint of heart and Campbell lets her own opinions be known.

This was, at several points, a hard book to read. Some of it is gruesome, some is sad. There are parts that are heartbreaking. As I read about details of certain professions, I knew viscerally that I would never be able to handle doing what that person does. But here’s the thing. These people do their physically, emotionally, mentally difficult jobs in the service of others – the living as well as the dead. These might not be happy jobs but they are (though one is debatable depending on your point of view) necessary ones. Someone has to do it and for the most part, the people Campbell interviews feel that they are helping people. They help the living through this horrible time and give the deceased a voice and dignity.

Campbell interviews a host of varied people and asks lots of questions. Some I would never have thought of – such as the man who deals with the bodies of people who have donated them to the Mayo Clinic or the bereavement midwife who helps in the delivery of stillborn or premature babies who it is known will not survive. I learned about a company that is a “…full-spectrum provider of disaster response services, covering planning, incident management and recovery.”

While I did like learning more about these jobs and the people Campbell spoke with, I wish she had not interjected her own opinions quite so much. She basically badgered one interviewee while trying to get him to tell her what she wanted to hear. Campbell reveals in the introduction that she’s always had an interest in the morbid details of death and there are times when I felt uncomfortable in how much she seemed to focus on these – not because the person’s job involved them but because of a disturbing fascination she has with them.

I agree with Campbell that as a whole, most people seem to be afraid of death. She lifted the curtain on several professions I knew little to nothing about and did find details that emphasized the humanity and kindness of these people and the care with which they treat others. But I found that I respected them more than I enjoyed her journalistic style and her “memoir, history, and philosophy.” B-

Very interesting book about death and various people that work in the profession that many do not think about. It may be a morbid subject, but the author writes with compassion and makes it easy to read and understand. I highly recommend this book. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Reading this book in this manner had no bearing on this review.

A Sensitive Look At the Death Industry

Death is a frightening subject for many people. Most of the time we’d rather not look at what happens after we die. However, there are people whose job it is to deal with the dead. From embalmers to pathologists, homicide detectives and others. These people face death every day. This book is about them.

The book is very well researched. The author interviewed many people in the death industry and found they have as many and varied thoughts about death as the rest of us. From gravediggers who fear the cemetery at night to a crematory worker who won’t dress a cadaver because it is too personal, these are real people whose job it is to see the rest of us to a comfortable resting place.

I hadn’t thought much about the death industry until I read this book. I knew about homicide detectives, coroners and pathologists from a fascination with murder mysteries, but this was real. The author did an excellent job of bringing the other people, like embalmers and executioners to life. If you’re fascinated by what happens to bodies after death, this is an excellent book.

I received this book from St. Martin’s Press for this review.

Superb nonfiction that will make you examine everything you think about death.

I don't read a lot of nonfiction, but usually find one or two books a year that entice me and I was quite surprised to have found this. The timing is spot on as the world enters a sort of recovery post Covid pandemic and during this period as there are new and looming threats to our health and well-being.

I'm no stranger to death. As an RN for over for over 40 years, I've seen quite enough of it, but honestly never thought too much about what happens after I have cared for the deceased or escorted them to the morgue. I've nursed the dying at work and at home. I've attended far too many funerals and grieved losses. I must say, however, that I never peered behind the curtain or had any conversations with the workers that the author interviewed for this book.

Not sure if this exploration is for everyone, but the stories and the thought-provoking detail will linger in my psyche for a long time. The discussions and research were both fascinating and disturbing though I was left with a larger understanding as I learned about the reasons why some have a calling to do the jobs they do.

A memorable quote: "Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead and I will measure with mathematical exactness, the tender mercy of its people, their respect for the law of the land and their loyalty to high ideals." William Gladstone (1809-1898)

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this e-book to read, review, and recommend.

5 fascinating stars
“I didn’t fear death, I was captivated by it.”

“We are surrounded by death. It is in our news, our novels, our video games…It is in our nursery rhymes, our museums, our movies about beautiful murdered women… Death is everywhere, but it’s veiled, or it’s fiction. Just like in video games, the bodies disappear. But the bodies have to go somewhere.”

Hayley Campbell was interested in the details of death at a very young age. Trained as a journalist, she delves into people who work in the ‘death industry’ and make our lives easier. All the Living and the Dead is very readable (limited medical terms) and well organized. Her writing is clear and vivid (but not too vivid! ; - ) Chapters cover the jobs of Funeral Director, Crime Scene Cleaner, Disaster Victim Identifiers, Embalmers, Executioners, Grave diggers, Crematorium Operators, Pathologists and more. A bit gruesome in a few spots like the autopsy section, (skim or skip over if you need to, the book is very worth your time), it is tastefully written, always respectful of the dead and the people who work with them, helping us manage our minds and hearts.

Campbell’s thoroughly researched stories are both unique and interesting. She always brings personal elements into the narrative. This talented writer pleads for families to have choices in viewing victim’s remains and in how they grieve loved ones. The end of the book contains notes and sources, including further reading broken down into helpful categories. An index is included.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

It is great to see so much new content coming out surrounding the topic of death, dying, and the industry of death in particular. I found the audiobook to be entertaining as well as informative in a way that was unique and perspective driven. You do have to be in the right headspace to want to explore these sorts of things to even pick up a book on this topic. Given the option between the audiobook and the physical book, I would highly recommend the audiobook as the author does an amazing job of telling her own firsthand account of what she has seen and learned. This is a great addiction to any library or bookstore.

This beautifully written & hands-on researched look into the vocation and lives of death workers is not just a must-read for the morbidly curious like myself, but an important & insightful read for all of us living who will inevitably die one day.

Death workers, the often unseen, reviled, and avoided, are the stars of this book. Unlike those working the frontlines, these professions (embalmers, crime scene cleaners, funeral directors, grave diggers, etc.) are not given the recognition or appreciation for the work they do. They are relegated to the shadows, not to be seen until the inevitable day when death darkens your doorstep.

Each chapter of All the Living and the Dead focuses on a different profession but all, a kin to cogs on a wheel, come together as parts of a larger purpose.

The individuals Hayley interviewed & consulted for this book brought so much to contemplate.

Poppy Mardall, a funeral director, speaks of how the first dead body you see shouldn't be of someone you love and how she wishes she could bring children to her mortuary to confront death before they have to. "You need to be able to separate the shock of seeing death from the shock of grief," she said.

Terry Regnier, Director of Anatomical Services at the Mayo Clinic, who handles the body donations that go on to help train young doctors & further the field of science asks, "What more can you give back than your whole self?" and so adeptly states, "We needed to learn about ourselves to save ourselves."

The care, thought and tenderness that so many of these incredible people show to the bodies they work with, and the deceased's loved ones, is both astounding and humbling. The protectiveness they show and the courtesies they perform, even though no one would necessarily notice, simply because it is the right & respectful thing to do.

"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭." - 𝐃𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐣𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐜𝐳

I give All the Living and the Dead: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work by Hayley Campbell 4.5 stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 (rounded up to 5 stars)

Thank you so very much to StMartinsPress and NetGalley for this ARC. All the Living and the Dead is out NOW!

https://greatbutunknownperformances.wordpress.com/2022/08/17/all-the-living-and-the-dead-by-hayley-campbell/

The review is located here. Please enjoy!

A thoughtful and personal look at death and how we the living make sense of the mortal coils the dead leave behind. It is the author's own fascination with this topic that drives the book and offers a thoughtful through-line between the chapters. It's a book that fits well alongside Mary Roach's "Stiff" and Caitlyn Doughty's "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" as a book that simultaneously talks about dead bodies but also about the living who work with them in all different capacities. I really enjoyed this one.

As a fan of Mary Roach (Stiff) and Caitlin Doughty (Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs) this was an easy choice when I saw that the ARC was available. I wasn't disappointed. My curiosity about the death industry started at a very early age due to several pathologists in the family. They would have enjoyed this book. From morticians, crime scene cleaners, disaster investigators and coroners to bodies donated to science for anatomy classes and so much in between. this book was hard to put down and I've added it to my best read list of 2022. It's amazing.
My thanks to the publisher St. Martin's and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

In present day America we hide the dead. It takes a surprising assortment of people to make that happen. Hayley Campbell decided to find out about some of them and it has resulted in this excellent book. Her research wasn't limited to interviews. It included observation and some participation which adds depth to her narrative. The interviewed are as varied as the jobs. There are the obvious funeral directors, embalmers, assistant medical examiners. And the seldom seen gravediggers and crematory worker. Some work is more unusual, like dealing with the bodies donated for scientific study or those killed in disasters like airplane crashes. A friend of mine from seventh grade to graduation wanted to be a mortician. I don't remember her ever explaining why, but she was quietly steadfast about it, unlike several of the people in this book who never set out to do what they do. Others followed their fathers, some moved sideways from caring for the living to caring for the dead. They do their jobs with competence and great respect for the bodies and those who loved and cared for them. And, in turn, they are very deserving of our respect as is Hayley Campbell for introducing us to them. I received an advanced digital copy of this book compliments of St. Martin's and NetGalley.

This captivating nonfiction book explores the industry of death and all the people who make it possible. From embalmers to crime scene cleaners to gravediggers, Campbell takes us through all the details no one wants to think about. Let’s face it, most people don’t want to think about death at all, let alone all the logistics and behind the scenes actions that need to take place when a person dies. We get an inside look into the professionals behind the death industry and what their work means to them. She even interviews a death mask sculptor and an executioner.

The book is well written and full of Campbell’s personal insights, which I found to be memorable. The most powerful section in my opinion, was the visit with a midwife who specializes in stillborns and babies who will soon die. It was excruciating to read, but it revealed an incredibly important role that goes unfulfilled in most communities. It takes a very special person to help grieving parents go through the process and Campbell did a wonderful job highlighting this work with compassion and care.

Unfortunately, the scope of the book is limited in that Campbell focused her research and experience in America and Britian only. I would have loved to see a more diverse look at death from all over the world, but I understand the difficulty in carrying that out.

Overall, this is such a compelling piece of journalism and one of my favorite books of the year. If you can handle the subject matter highly, I recommend reading. You will come away with a new perspective on death and appreciation for those who work to ensure our dignified passage.

Thank you @stmartinspress @netgalley and @hayleycampbelly for the opportunity to read this one!

Hayley Campbell highlights different professionals that work in fields related to death in All the Living and the Dead. It is a pretty enlightening collection, where some jobs I had not thought about were discussed as well as some more familiar death-related fields. Some of the more familiar ones include individuals who work in anatomy labs with medical schools, morticians, and crime scene cleaners. Some fascinating chapters were about individuals working as mass casualty investigators and state executioners. I also found out about an occupation I had not heard of before- midwives who specialize in bereavement. The expectation is they are involved in deliveries of stillborns and children who are expected to live only a short time out of the womb. Talk about a field requiring a special person to work and thrive in. Death is a topic that people are fascinated by, and Campbell was able to provide insight and empathy for individuals working in difficult fields. I can imagine fans of Caitlin Doughty's work will enjoy this book (there is some overlap in content).

Thanks to St. Martin's Press via NetGalley for the advance reader copy in exchange for honest review.

A thoughtful deep dive into the world of death.We are introduced to people who handle the dead,we learn about the history of how bodies wer handled in past history to present times.A really interesting informative read.#netgalley #st.Martins

Hayley Campbell writes an in-depth cross-section of people who have devoted their careers to working in the death industries. She includes all the entries you might expect: funeral director, embalmer, crime scene cleaner, executioner; but she also opens the reader's eyes to such vocations as anatomical pathology technologist, disaster victim identification, and bereavement midwife. Written with professional skill and a personal tone, each subject is portrayed with respect and curiosity and determination, a gentle but insistent desire to unfold and understand. Campbell herself holds a lifelong fascination with death, and her unflinching gaze at its employees and their various works shows the value of opening our eyes to its obscurities. The cumulative impression of this collection is an astonishing humility in the face of the deep vein of compassion running through almost every professional featured. The author refuses to avoid the unsettling or disturbing observations, so while this book is not always a comfortable read, over and over again, Hayley Campbell proves the value of examining 'All the Living and the Dead.'

Many thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC.

This was a really amazing read.

If you have read [and loved] Stiff by Mary Roach, this is a perfect companion to that [also] amazing book.

While trying to figure out just how to review this, I saw another review by a reader and it simply said [paraphrasing here] "Don't read reviews, just read the book" and I have to agree. This is a book that is best going in "blind". To let it fully play out without any previous knowledge or anyone else's preconceived notions about death and dying and what they TRULY thought about this book [and the author]. One needs to experience this without all that baggage, without anyone else's opinions ringing in their ears [including mine].

I will say I highly recommend this book - if you have every wondered about death and dying and those who are there when it happens and in the aftermath, then this book is for you. Once I started reading it, I absolutely didn't want to stop [in fact, making myself move on to other reads was supremely difficult, I was just swept in completely] and I wish it could have been just a little bit longer. ;-)

I was lucky to also receive the audiobook for this and WOW. I don't always love when an author chooses to narrate their own books. Quite often, they are just not a good narrator and you find that it completely ruins the book experience that you might have otherwise loved.
Thankfully [ ;-) ], this was not the case here. In fact, I would listen to anything this author reads [yes, she is that good]. The emotions she felt at different times in this journey come through in many different ways and I will say that there were several moments where I was crying [as I imagine she had been at the time]. I highly recommend listening to this audiobook!!! ♥

Thank you to NetGalley, Haley Campbell [also the narrator], St. Martin's Press and Macmillan Audio for providing both the book and audiobook ARCS in exchange for an honest review.