I really appreciated what the author did in Unclaimed. I never knew the ins and outs of what happens to unclaimed bodies; this was eye-opening.

Wow. This book was so interesting, Before reading this, I honestly never thought about this topic. You know a lot of people die every day who go unnoticed but then people who are completely unclaimed by their families, loved ones, and friends, and then strangers care enough to give them a proper goodbye and bury them. That is a very eye-opening experience. Loved how you can see the effort, time, and research the author put into their work. This was truly a very compelling and interesting read.

I really liked this book and completely devoured it on my commutes. It felt like a fun companion to Stiff by Mary Roach, except I got to find out what happens to unclaimed bodies and the whole vast system that sits far away from the more pleasant dealings of life. I was really frustrated by the politically motivated leader because it brought back flashes to when I had to deal with an unhelpful govt boss who wanted to keep things close, but at the expense of ruining the whole mission of the operation; so, I had some deja vu there. I liked the focus on four individuals, but going back and forth between them only became easier to juggle at the end. When a new chapter about an individual was introduced, I was scrambling to remember the details of the last entry on their lives.

I was intrigued by this book based on the topic. I have always been interested in death and its rituals, and have never considered unclaimed people. The authors put a lot of work into this and I liked how they featured four individuals to use their stories to show how some can wind up unclaimed. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The first two thirds of this book are extremely good. The amount of research that went into this book and came out as incredibly readable and engaging storytelling is such an impressive feat. The book is evocative and explains so much of what happens to people when they die. It felt very clear the authors (and their editor) we're quite sure how to end the book and the third part went on too long and muddied some of the book. I still really enjoyed it but wish it had stayed as rooted in it's mission through to the end.

This book was very eye opening and thought provoking and a very important read. I felt that it was well researched and the writers did justice in telling the story and making the reader aware.

Compelling and engrossing book about the rising number of the unclaimed deceased in the United States. Why is this happening? And why are the numbers rising?
Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans spent eight years investigating the sad trend. A fascinating look into the abandoned, and the people who try and help.
I was drawn to this because the uniqueness of the subject, and finished the book thinking that this could happen to anyone. Heartbreaking but wonderfully told.

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Crown Publishing for an advanced copy of this look at death in America, the cost of dying, the reasons why people are left to pass alone, their ashes scattered with so many other lost souls, and what this means for us as a society.

As a person of Irish descent funerals were the social events of the season. Weddings were big, but funeral, oh my Lord the show could never be beat. Between crying about the loss of such a great person, the airing of grievances, the drinking the eating, it was a lot to take in. Even after 40 years I still remember my Grandmother's funeral. The idea that no one in our family would have claimed her body, and laid her to rest is an anathema to me. And yet almost 150,000 bodies a year remain unclaimed, left to be disposed of by the state. Forgotten. I understand that some are people with nobody, and things like this still happen. However for this to be an option is just another sign that this country as monetized everything even death in a way that hurts more than it helps. If a family can't pay a $10 co-pay, how can they pay $400 just to declare someone dead. And funeral costs. The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels by Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans is a story of death, what comes after, and the lives of select people before they had to pass, why they were forgotten, and what people are doing to try and rectify a terrible wrong.

The book begins in the bright sunlight of a state on fire, with ashes in the air from forest fires, and ashes in bags intermingling in the Earth. In the Boyle Heights section of Los Angeles, is an area that is known as a Potter's Field, where the unclaimed bodies of the dead are placed in a mass grave. From there we move to the history of the Potter's field, Los Angeles and the dead, and how more and more bodies are being unclaimed by almost 150,000 a year all over the country. Los Angeles lays almost 1,600 bodies, well cremated bodies in one area. From here we meet four of these unclaimed, learn about their lives, and dreams and what happened to leave them alone when their spirits left. From dreams of being a singer, to fighting with family, these people are given on the page what they never found in death, Rememberance.

A powerful book that is not what I expected. Publishing is full of quite a lot of books about dying and the death industry, from how we die, dying well, what happens to bodies after people die, and even after that. However none really went into what happens to those that no one wants, and this was quite revealing. The two authors are sociologists who spent 8 years, following the stories of people, interviewing the living, and following the bureaucracy of dying. There is a lot of beauty in this book, a lot of scenes that remind us that we all are people capable of being the best and the worst sometimes at the same time. Some sections are hard to read, as one knows how this will end, others are maddening for the same reason, but government has to get in the way. The book is very well-written, and is a thoughtful look at a problem that shouldn't be a problem. But our society has made it one.

There have been quite a lot of books on death recently. I blame the times and the stupid that seems all around us. This is a book about death, but it is a hopeful book. A book about people who might not have lead the best lives, even they might say that. But they lived, and for that they should be remembered.

4 stars
A fascinating and heartbreaking look at what happens to those who fall through the cracks and have no relatives to claim their bodies when they die.
1,600 people go unclaimed a year in Los Angeles. How is that possible? The authors take a deep look at this tragedy and tells the stories of a few of those who went unclaimed. They explore how this is just not a California issue but one that is across the entire nation.
This is an absolute must-read book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley.

A book eight years in the making, The Unclaimed exposes a growing phenomenon in America (and presumably outside its borders; only a few other countries are mentioned): people dying alone, or without final arrangements having been made, whose bodies are collected by local authorities, cremated as an act of efficiency, and held for a few years — waiting on shelves for family members to claim them — before being anonymously dumped into common graves. This is a work of narrative nonfiction — with a compelling account of four denizens of Los Angeles who spent time on the unclaimed shelf — and since authors Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans are both Professors of Sociology, this is also an attempt to understand the social and bureaucratic factors behind the phenomenon. I found the information in this book to be provocative — a little shocking, a little sad — and while I can’t imagine circumstances in which I could become totally estranged from my family in my last days, it’s a good reminder to have those final arrangements laid out and paid for. Fascinating, well-told glimpse into a hidden corner of our fractured world.