What Remains?
Life, Death and the Human Art of Undertaking
by Rupert Callender
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Pub Date Oct 03 2024 | Archive Date Oct 24 2024
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Description
‘Sharp, angry, punchily philosophical and often funny. It basically invents a new type of lifestyle aspiration: deathstyle.’ The Times
‘Callender’s joyous, thought-provoking book is an account of how his own early encounters with bereavement led to him becoming a new kind of undertaker.’ Daily Mail
‘This book is a great work of craft and beauty.’ Salena Godden
Death has shown me . . . the unbreakable core of love and courage that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.
Ru Callender wanted to become an undertaker in order to offer people a more honest experience than the stilted formality of traditional ‘Victorian’ funerals. Driven by raw emotion and the unresolved grief of losing his own parents, Ru brought an outsider, ‘DIY’ ethos to the business of death, combined with the kinship and inspiration he found in rave culture, social outlaws and political nonconformists.
Ru has carried coffins across windswept beaches, sat in pubs with caskets on beer-stained tables, helped children fire flaming arrows into their father’s funeral pyre, turned modern occult rituals into performance art and, with the band members of the KLF, is building the People’s Pyramid of bony bricks in Liverpool – all in the name of creating truly authentic experiences that celebrate those who are no longer here and those who remain.
Radical, poignant, unflinchingly real and laugh-aloud funny, What Remains? will change the way you think about life, death and the human experience.
Advance Praise
‘This book is great work of craft and beauty, truth and humanity, heart and soul. I believe it could be used as a teaching tool and as a comfort. I find Callender’s approach to this huge subject deeply loving and moving, but also revolutionary in spirit and courageous.’ Salena Godden, author of Mrs Death Misses Death
‘A remarkable book. One of the most important books of our age. It had me laughing and crying by turns, sometimes both at the same time, and each page brought a new revelation, a new insight, a new understanding of what it means to be human in this beautiful world, in this strange moment we are passing through.' Luke Turner, author of Out of the Woods; co-founder, The Quietus
‘It's a book destined to join the greats of counterculture nonfiction, like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Cosmic Trigger and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test.’ CJ Stone, author of Fierce Dancing
‘What Remains? is a profound and vital book that reads less like a memoir and more like a confession. As honest, terrifying and truthful as a mirror at midday, it embraces life and death equally and is too compassionate to flinch. Inspiring and unforgettable.’ John Higgs, author of William Blake vs the World
‘If there is one book you should read when death comes knocking or you get the sudden urge to build a crop circle in the middle of the night, then this is that book.' Jimmy Cauty, The JAM’s, K2 Plant Hire
‘I loved What Remains? Funny, demystifying, but mostly, deeply moving.’ Kathy Burke, director
'Part memoir, part rant against the traditional funeral business, part manifesto, part just musing on death and facing it with compassion and courage. It’s lovely and thoughtful and may make you rethink a few things.' Guardian
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781915294234 |
| PRICE | £12.99 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 336 |
Available on NetGalley
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