The American Way of Death Revisited by Jessica Mitford, $11.20 Paperback, Reprint Edition 2000.

First edition, 1963 was an instant bestseller. The book is not only an exposé of mortuary malpractice but also a sort of anthropological study of this strange subgroup of American culture. Mitford attracted her first readers not only with shocking facts but with her fine ear for the ludicrous, brilliantly recorded funeral industry hyperboles and euphemisms. This edition was nearly complete when Mitford herself "passed over" in 1996; it updates the book with chapters on prepayment and multinational funeral corporations, as well as directory of not-for-profit funeral societies.
Buy this Book Editorial Reviews Customer Reviews

The Definitive Guide to Underground Humor : Quaint Quotes About Death, Funny Funeral Home Stories and Hilarious Headstone Epitaphs by Erward Bergin (editor)

Edmund Gwenn observed 'Dying is easy. Comedy is difficult.' Well, any comic will tell you, comedy about dying is really hard. But necessary. For what greater triumph of the human spirit exists than to defiantly mock the grinning reaper, specter of our darkest fears?
By this Book Editorial Reviews Customer Reviews

The Big Sleep: True Tales and Twisted Trivia About Death by Erica Orloff, JoAnn Baker, $12.95 Paperback - 171 pages

Exactly how many ways are there to kill a vampire? What famous choreographer died from a form of Mad Cow Disease? How many people died from drowning in a tragic beer accident in 1814? What happens during an autopsy? Why was Charlie Chaplin's corpse kidnapped? A What president haunts the White House? From the deaths of famous celebrities and politicians to some of the weirdest deaths on record.
By this Book Editorial Reviews Customer Reviews

The New York City Cab Driver's Joke Book
by Jim Pietsch (Illustrator), $4.79; Mass Market Paperback 270 pages, 1986

This book has been selected because it speaks about our need to confront our fears. Far aweay from New York, in Russia, when Stalin was still alive, a fellow could be arrested only for retelling a cub driver jokes. And still people passed them on, and 'drop dead' jokes about death and funerals were big part of them. And in every society someone wouldn't like them. In our country it was Communist Party who considered dying an unwanted and anti-social behavior, and in this country... read some reviews!
Buy this Book   Customer Reviews

The Penguin Dictionary of Jokes, Wisecracks, Quips, and Quotes by Fred Metcalf (Editor), $10.36 Paperback - 230 pages, 1996

This is such a time... A time when all of us need to come together and share the healilng power of laughter.bnThis is a book for today. And tomorrow. A book to be laughed at. and with. a book to be read out loud. Today. And tomorrow.
An Excerpt from Foreword to The Penguin Dictionary of Jokes  Buy this Book Customer Reviews