The aging Sixties generation now confronts death in this nonfiction romp that rivals Evelyn Waugh’s classic The Loved One (1951) as a laugh-a-minute examination of death rituals and customs. Not really psychology or anthropology per se, Palmer’s book is a tour of such death-related places as a death theme park in Taiwan (the title of the book is a ride at the park), a burial in Ghana (where funerals are so lavish that families usually have to store the body in a morgue for several years while saving up for the wake), the Alcor Life Extension Foundation (a cryonics facility), a funeral parlor in Florida that features a drive-up window, and much, much more. While this title will not add much to a serious social sciences collection, it is quite interesting and entertaining. In addition, it is a companion volume to a PBS series that debuted in October.
- Harper Collins
Librería del balcón 