(4.5 stars rounded up to a 5)

All the Living and the Dead is a non-fiction book by journalist Hayley Campbell. The ebook version is 288 pages. I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at just under nine hours and is narrated by the author.

The extended title of the book is a pretty apt description of what it entails: From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work. The author interviews various people in that spectrum, including mass fatality investigators, embalmers, former executioners, gravediggers, cryonics facility operators, crime scene cleaners, bereavement midwives, and homicide detectives.

This book was fascinating, and I learned a lot. I have been part of Death Positive DC, a group that promotes conversations about death, so this book was right up my alley. I felt so many emotions while reading this; I laughed out loud quite a few times, but there are also moments that I felt morose or sad. I've already preordered a finished copy for my bookshelf. This is one of those rare moments where the US cover is better than the UK cover!

This would be a great book for fans of Caitlin Doughty or Mary Roach. Additionally, if you're in the Death Café scene, this should absolutely be your next book club read. It mainly focuses on the Western side of how we deal with death, though there are a few brief mentions of what some other cultures do.

Special thanks to Macmillan, Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for providing an audio galley of this book for me to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.

All the Living and the Dead releases on Tuesday, August 16th, 2022.

I've always been fascinated with death. As a result, I've read my fair share of books about the death industry. But one book I've never come across is one that dealt with not only the death-related jobs we don't consider that often but with the people behind the jobs. In All the Living and the Dead, Hayley Campbell introduces us to both, and it was one of the most heartwrenching and well-written books I've read in a long time.

Campbell doesn't just introduce us to the jobs and the people, she tries to get inside their heads and understand why they do the jobs they do and how they deal with the trauma they face every day. Campbell puts faces to the invisible hands that hold our bodies after death: gravediggers, crime scene cleaners, executioners, bereavement midwives, and a company that deals with the cleanup and organization after natural disasters and plane crashes. Although these people have some of the most gruesome jobs in the world, they seem to have great outlooks--all of the people she interviewed wanted to show care and gentleness to people at the very last step of their lives; wanted to make sure things were done right and the bodies were respected. I found myself tearing up while reading because along with the facts there was just so much heart behind not just the workers and their intentions, but Campbell as well. Campbell handled each person and their story beautifully and with empathy, and she was candid about her own feelings, too.

This book is truly one of a kind, and I enjoyed reading every bit of it. It also really got me thinking about what I want to be done with my body when I die, and that's something that a lot of people are hesitant to think about. If this book will teach us anything, it is to be open to thinking about difficult things.

My experience with All the Living and the Dead was similar to many reviewers'—I was impressed by the amount and range of information provided, but felt a bit uneasy with the joy the author seemed to take in death-related activities. Occasionally I felt almost a bit guilty while reading it. If this topic interests you and you can see beyond some of the usual social conventions, you'll enjoy All the Living and the Dead. The author's prose voice is friendly and her writing is specific and clear.

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley; the opinions are my own.

An eye-opening and fascinating read for curious and morbidly curious people alike, All the Living and the Dead follows journalist Hayley Campbell's journey to connect with people who work closely with death. She meets so many people with unique professions - some of these people include: a bereavement midwife, a cryonics scientist, the owner of a crime scene cleanup business, a death mask maker, a crematorium operator, the head of the Mayo Clinic department that receives bodies "donated to science," a gravedigger, an anatomical pathology technician, and, most interestingly, a real, modern-day executioner who worked in Virginia's state prisons.

Campbell brings together an excellent lineup of people who not only have fascinating stories, but also bring genuinely deep, profound, and beautiful reflections of how their professions have impacted their outlook on life. She is consistently struck by the little things that people bring to their jobs that show respect for the dead - even though few people, if anyone, would even recognize those actions. Moreover, she discovers the boundaries that some people refuse to cross - like an autopsy technician who refuses to read suicide notes of self-inflicted death cases - finding that death is not really something that one can be desensitized to, no matter how often you encounter it.

Throughout, Campbell reflects on her own experience of learning about, accepting, and confronting death as she meets more and more people who have made this their life's work. In experiencing their professions, she becomes one of them - someone who has seen far more death than the average person, and will always be haunted by some of the things she has witnessed. I found her writing to be compelling, relatable, insightful, and beautiful.

Overall, this was an excellent read for fans of Caitlin Doughty and Mary Roach, or anyone interested in connecting more with a part of life that we rarely spend time thinking about. Thank you to the publisher and Macmillan Audio for the ARC via Netgalley.

All The Living and the Dead is perfect if you like any of Mary Roach, Caitlin Doughty, or Sue Black’s books. I will say, though, that the journalistic style doesn’t lend itself to the lighter feel of other books on death that I’ve read. So if you’re looking for a more quirky peek into the death industry, I wouldn’t start here.

Campbell comes at the industry more from the approach of walking us through what current death practices are (instead of a historical or anthropological approach). This is how things are now, not how we got here or where people are hoping to take us.

My only complaint is that in some chapters, Campbell gives the impression that this is a macabre fascination of hers instead of a way to process death and mortality. She writes with an attitude that she really can’t understand why some of these different professions are needed or appreciated.

Other than that, this was a really interesting read.

Writer and journalist Hayley Campbell grew up in a home unafraid of death. She describes experiencing the first dead person, trying to comprehend someone who was there yet wasn't. In All the Living and the Dead she insightfully and respectfully explores the physiology of death and how Westerners view it psychologically. I have always had a fascination with anatomy and forensics so found this book to be incredibly insightful and informative. The amount of information I learned is remarkable!

In each chapter Campbell matter-of-factly yet beautifully describes the role of specific people in a death-related occupation and records her interviews with them and observations. She makes it clear that we grieve differently and reminds us that no one can tell those affected what they can or cannot do, such as viewing parts of a loved one's body, a dead child or a drowning victim. Many descriptions are graphic and can be difficult to read (I shed tears) as these are real people, not fictional characters. How do people work in these jobs and cope with what they see/smell/touch? This side is explored as well.

Included in the occupations are some most of us are aware of but take for granted such as funeral directors, executioners and detectives. But do we really know what is involved behind the scenes such as those who create natural-looking death masks, clean up gory scenes or work with grieving parents on bereavement wards? I had not really thought about the importance of making hospital evidence such as plasters or compression socks disappear. Do we really know how a body is embalmed, how proteins are snapped or facial parts sewn together? "Seeing the body is a signpost, a mark on the trail of grief." Though it can be grotesque, until one sees the remains there is always a sliver of hope. It should be up to the loved one what he or she needs to see/not see.

Amongst many, many things I learned includes Anatomage, how space is made in sockets for joints, what happens to donor pieces, how bodies and parts are prepared for optimal use by students, what happens after a disaster (what companies do so you don't have to such as dealing with media, crisis lines, personal effects,), how one can contact a company to have the gore quickly and thoroughly cleaned up, the horror of seeing the aftermath, machines which decide which is the killing button pressed at an execution, the role of an anatomical pathology technologist, working with cold versus warm dead bodies. bereavement wards, what the last thing to burn is in cremation, cryonics and how a grave is dug. The emotional burden on people in these crucial occupations is discussed, too. I like that Campbell is so candid about her feelings and thoughts after she saw what she did.

Those fascinated by the logistics, physiology and emotional aspects of death ought to read this book. However, it is very graphic and therefore not for everyone. It may understandably be triggering for some.

My sincere thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the privilege of reading this challenging yet important book about a topic we must all face at some point. Stellar in every way.

Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell.

If you enjoyed Stiff by Mary Roach, or Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty, you will also love this one. It's just as informative, enjoyable, and downright entertaining considering the content matter.

Even though death is one of those inevitable things that will happen to all of us someday, it's often tiptoed around, especially in our modern polite society. Hayley Campbell, through many interviews and hands on experiences, dive into multiple aspects of death. From the reverent cultural practices, to the grimy ugly parts of it. She covers things like tragic accidents and how the government handles them, the death penalty and the people who have to carry the weight of executioner, and body prep after a loved one has passed.

Listen, I made the mistake of listening to this while I was eating, and that was a mistake. If you get queasy, approach with caution. But, talk about a well written and vastly covered book that never once gets dry. Campbell keeps this incredibly human, full of humor, personality, and stark naked (sometimes literally) truths about death and dying. I learned a ton.

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I expected it to be about a few people in the death industry and their basic jobs, but it turned out to be so much more. There were the jobs that usually come to mind when you think of the industry, such as embalmer and funeral director, but then there were jobs I either didn't know about or never would have thought of, such as the death mask maker and bereavement midwife. There is so much more that goes into dying that people don't realize, and so many people that work in that field that you never hear about. Many of these people never get thanks for their jobs or recognition for what they do, but they are still a vital and important part of the death process. I was hoping for a chapter about mummification, as I live right by the only modern mummification center outside of Egypt, but it wasn't to be. I was also quite touched by the author's reaction to part of what she saw. She went it totally prepared to not have any emotional reaction to one thing, only to be deeply affected by something else. It just shows that even though we think we are prepared for any inevitability, we're not.

It's funny; I actually finished this on the day I drove to Idaho for my uncle's funeral. While death is sad and impacts us in different ways, I still think it's important to talk about. We like to pretend that it will never happen, that it's some dirty secret that can't be spoken of. But death is the most natural thing in the world. We'll all die someday. Talking about it helps us come to terms with that fact, and being prepared for it helps us and those we'll leave behind.

Are you a fan of "Bones", or "Dr. G"? If so, this is definitely a book you should read. This is a book about how different professions handle the dead. From a Mass Fatality Investigator to an Embalmer, this is a fascinating look at Death.

A fascinating, memorable, incisive look at death and the "death industry." Campbell explores aspects of death I'd. not really contemplated (the grave diggers) as well as the more obvious (she's present for an autopsy). Thanks t0 Netgalley for the ARC. I learned a great deal from this sensitive and informative volume.

Incredibly interesting book about death and everything that comes with it. This book is incredibly impealing because it takes us to a place that most of us are curious about but never have a chance to ask. I was completely tied to it until I finished.

I have been dealing with a lot of death within my family in the past couple of years. This book really helped me understand what everyone did for my family during the death. This book was excellently written, and it was very easy to follow. I really can't wait to read more for Hayley Campbell.


Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for letting give my honest review

All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell is by far the best book I have read on this particular subject: Individuals who work with death for a living. As someone who has always wanted to work with the dead for a living, this book was incredibly fascinating. Not only is it well-researched, but I learned something new within each chapter.
I love the formatting of this book as it was easy to read. Hayley Campbell's writing style is personal, descriptive, and just absolutely wonderful. I nearly cried with how beautiful some descriptions were. She makes you feel comfortable, it feels as if you're listening to a friend or loved one talk about the topic of death, and not just the mundane clinical stuff, there is meaning and feeling in her words. You can tell she has a passion for writing and the subject of death.
I think if you have a fear of death or are generally interested in the subject, you will devour this book and it will give you a more meaningful and in-depth prespective on death.
This book will forever be a favorite and I will be purchasing a finished copy and reccomending it to everyone!
Thank you NetGalley for the eARC and Hayley Campbell for this incredible work of art. Absolutely beautiful!

It's probably weird to say that I found this book comforting. Death is weird. Let's be honest. All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Cambell is the story of what happens when we die. Interviews with people who deal with death on a day to day basis, from embalmers to executioners, almost all scenarios are covered.

It's an open and honest way at looking at something that we all experience but we are never able to discuss.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

All the Living and the Dead, by journalist Hayley Campbell explores death via a dozen people who work in its often-unwitnessed nooks and crannies: morticians, executioners, crime scene cleaners, embalmers, and others, covering a range from the mundanely familiar (funeral homes) to the more far-flung (cryogenics). Though I’d argue its first half is stronger than its second, the collection of essays is well-written throughout and often moving. It’s also, given its subject matter and the level of detail Campbell goes into in describing elements of that subject, possibly not for everyone. If detailed descriptions of corpses, crime scene residue, or dead babies, you probably want to think about picking this book up. If this last sentence already disturbed you, you definitely want to think about it. But for those for whom the details are not a deal-breaker, I highly recommend it.

Campbell begins by offering a bit of personal history on how she has been fascinated with death and immune to its sometimes-gory details since she was a child and her dad, well known comic book artist Eddie Campbell, was working on From Hell, a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper written by Alan Moore. Emphasis in this case on the graphic, as her dad had no qualms about Hayley (under ten), “standing on tiptoes to study the crime scenes that were pinned to my dad’s drawing board . . . there they were, the disemboweled women, the flesh torn from their faces and thighs …” When her dad bought a kidney from the local butcher, she sat beside him to draw it as well, “only mine was more honest: it included the gather cloud of flies.” “Captivated” by death, she was also frustrated by the ways she was taught it “was taboo and something to fear,” a frustration that continued on into adulthood. She “wanted to know whether we are cheating ourselves out of some fundamental human knowledge by … living in this manufactured state of denial … I wanted to shrink the size of death to something I could hold, something I could handle … to the size the something human.” To do Campbell did what came naturally to her as a journalist — set out to do some reportage via interviews and on-site observation. But she also tells us toward the end of the introduction that “there is a false security in believing that as a journalist you can stand there and report and be the interloper in all situations, unaffected, the detached observer. I thought I was invulnerable; I was not.” A nice tease to set the reader up from wondering when that shoe would drop.

From there it’s onto the separate essays on the jobs noted above, with Campbell often fully immersing herself in the job or at least the environment. The details are, well, detailed, and so those who find the human body, particularly the human body in stages of decay, in pieces, or (you may want to skip this part) scattered about an area or across a wall, this book again may not be for you. I should also note that these descriptions do sometimes involve children (it is in fact a baby prepared for autopsy that levels that emotional blow she mentions in the intro). None of the details are gratuitous or there for shock value; Campbell is never anything but clear-eyed and measured, nor does she reach for hyperbole or sensationalism. Such details are simply Campbell’s keen-eyed observation of what she is witness to and given one of the points of the book is to not obscure death’s reality, glossing over the details would defeat at least some of the book’s purpose and premise.

Many of the essays are fascinating (again, not morbidly so) and informative. If you ever wondered what was actually involved in the actualities, the mechanics, of death-centered actions — embalming, preparing a body for viewing, identifying a body and informing the family, what happens to donated bodies, etc. — then Campbell mostly has you covered. The people she interviews are equally interesting and often moving in their desire to “do the good and right thing,” as Campbell puts it.

This includes Mark Oliver, who works for Kenyon, a company that takes over for companies in the aftermath of a disaster (a plane or train crash, a bombed or fired building, etc.) and deals with everything that follows: press releases, scrubbing the website of unfortunate echoes of the disaster, attaching liaison officers to family members, flying them to the disaster site, organizing memorials, collecting, distributing, and storing personal effects, and lots, lots more. Oliver, even before working at Kenyon, had spent years in crisis areas helping identify bodies (sometimes having to exhume them from mass graves) after war atrocities, the tsunami I Sri Lanka (and elsewhere), plane crashes, and more. While again, the detail of the work itself are compelling, Campbell often goes beyond, asking larger questions such as “If closure is an unattainable point of reckoning, what does the presence of a body add?”

Time and again Campbell finds the personal, the intimate, the moving moment, as with the funeral director who during the AIDs crisis, “while funeral homes across the country were refusing to take the bodies at all … would stay after hours and sneak in the people who had loved them.” Or in the detail that “parents of autopsied babies” refer to the incision as “’a scar’ — implying healing.” Perhaps the only interviewee who resists such humanizing is the cleaner, who posts before and after pictures of murder/suicide sites on his Instagram and who no longer meets much with clients because, as he says, “I’m not sympathetic to the customer any more … They just disgust me … I’m not here to be your friend, I’m not here to be your shrink … I’m your janitor, you know?”

The writing is strong throughout, always clear, sometimes lyrical, shifting smoothly between reportage and a more memoiristic style, where Campbell opens up her interior thoughts and feelings, which span a wide spectrum depending on the situation. She also leavens some of the grimness with some light but respectful humor (she’s not as out and out funny – nor does she appear to be trying to be – as Mary Roach, whose Stiff has some overlap and is also highly recommended).

As is often the case with collections, the strength varies from piece to piece. I’d say the first half of the book holds the strongest essays. It wasn’t until we got to the essay on executions that I felt I wanted more details than I was giving and several of the latter essays felt a bit thin. But really, while noticeable, these were mild quibbles. Overall, the collection is quite strong and is capped off by an excellent list of resources at the end (I can always tell a good non-fiction work by how much of the notes and bibliography I highlight in addition to the text). If you feel you can stomach — physically or emotionally — the precise, vivid descriptions, then All the Living and the Dead is an easy and enthusiastic recommendation.

This book will absolutely be everything to anyone who is interested in the topic of death. The writing was just so good and it made me devour the book in a few days. I loved all the glimpses at jobs that deal with death. It was gripping as well as respectful and empathetic. Great read.

This is the type of book you can only read one chapter at a time. It is not meant for the faint of heart. While I'm sure there are books out there that go incredibly deep into the practices around death and burial, it unnerved me how specific and detailed some aspects of this book really were.

This book is written by a journalist and each chapter features a different interview and/or tour with someone who works with dead bodies. It covers gravediggers to bereavement nurses. Overall, I think the book centered around the idea that there are people in this world who do everything they can to give the proper respect and care due to someone who has passed. The people she interviewed went the extra mile, even if the only witness was someone who would never tattle if they skipped a step or half-did something.

All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell is an intriguing read.
In this book, Campbell meets with different death workers and interviews them. Her main goal is to learn how they do these jobs, how they deal with the trauma.
This book fulfills its goal well. With every person she meets, Campbell asks them how they deal with it. She meets a wide amount of people, both the expected (like a funeral director) and the unexpected or less thought about (like a midwife). Campbell also teaches a little about the job, about what they do, often through watching. I found this the most interesting parts of the book, what each person exactly does.
However, the book does not go as in detail about this as I would have liked. I wish she had said more about the process of cremating, for example. Campbell is also very fond of putting her opinions in, such as disbelieving someone's way of dealing with their job. I wish she had been more unbiased.
I would recommend this book to someone who is curious about how death workers deal with their emotions and someone who is not concerned about a more personal book.

All The Living and the Dead, is a nonfiction book that dives into different jobs that deal with the dead. It was beautifully written, gruesome, and fascinating.

Fascinating!
A study in our Western responses to death as well as all of the disciplines who value the cadaver as a tool to help the living and/or determine findings about the untimely dead. There are a number of books dedicated to the corpse, but this is unique among them as it focuses on our reactions to death and its ancillary businesses as well as how their jobs have impacted those who work with the dead.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. Thank you!