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The Undertaking:

Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
Front Cover
219 Reviews
W W Norton & Company Incorporated, 1997 - Social Science - 202 pages
"Every year I bury a couple hundred of my townspeople." So opens this singular and wise testimony. Like all poets, inspired by death, Thomas Lynch is, unlike others, also hired to bury the dead or to cremate them and to tend to their families in a small Michigan town where he serves as the funeral director. In the conduct of these duties he has kept his eyes open, his ear tuned to the indispensable vernaculars of love and grief. In these twelve pieces his is the voice of both witness and functionary. Here, Lynch, poet to the dying, names the hurts and whispers the condolences and shapes the questions posed by this familiar mystery. So here is homage to parents who have died and to children who shouldn't have. Here are golfers tripping over grave markers, gourmands and hypochondriacs, lovers and suicides. These are the lessons for life our mortality teaches us.

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5 stars
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Eloquent and versatile writer. - Goodreads
Some of the writing is already fading from memory. - Goodreads
Poetic prose appropros to the poignancy of passing. - Goodreads
His work is easy to read but is worth a lot of thought. - Goodreads
Gives a litte insight into the life of an undertaker. - Goodreads
Odd topic, but beautiful writing. - Goodreads

Review: The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

User Review  - Sarah Moore - Goodreads

Very well written, interesting subject matter. Read full review

Review: The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

User Review  - Chad Goeser - Goodreads

It has been some time since Six Feet Under closed up shop. And Thomas Lynch hasn't short-listed for anything recently. However, the topics of death and dying seem forever timely. With the apparently ... Read full review

All 219 reviews »

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References to this book

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From Google Scholar

Guiding Parents Through the Death of Their Infant
Elizabeth Workman - 2001 - Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic, and Neonatal Nursing
The Effect of State Funeral Regulations on Cremation Rates ...
David E Harrington, Kathy J Krynski - 2002 - The Journal of Law and Economics
Living in the Liminal Spaces of Mortality
Martin Stephen Frommer - 2005 - Psychoanalytic Dialogues
Brick-and-Mortar Barriers to Internet Casket Sales: Are State ...
DAVID E HARRINGTON
All Scholar search results »

References from web pages

Thomas Lynch - Poet and Writer - Undertaking
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade (ww Norton & Company, July 1997, July 1998) Click Here to Purchase The Undertaking ...
www.thomaslynch.com/ undertaking.html

Lynch, Thomas : The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. Genre, Collection (Essays) (199 pp.) Keywords, Death and Dying, Empathy, Family Relationships, Grief, ...
litmed.med.nyu.edu/ Annotation?action=view& annid=1739

JSTOR: The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade Thomas Lynch. New York: Penguin, 1998. 202 pp. $12.95. ISBN 0-14-027623-8. Reading Thomas Lynch's prose ...
links.jstor.org/ sici?sici=0013-8274(200301)92%3A3%3C128%3ATULSFT%3E2.0.CO%3B2-P

The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade by Thomas ...
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade by Thomas Lynch. August 9, 2007 by Barry. We sometimes read narrative nonfiction in order to try to make ...
bfgb.wordpress.com/ 2007/ 08/ 09/ the-undertaking-life-studies-from-the-dismal-trade-by-thomas-lynch/

A Hands-On Approach to the Facets of Death - New York Times
In ''The Undertaking: Life Studies From the Dismal Trade,'' Mr. Lynch reflects charmingly, lyrically, unsentimentally, sardonically on life as seen from the ...
query.nytimes.com/ gst/ fullpage.html?res=9404EFD8133BF930A15754C0A961958260& sec=& spon=& pagewanted=print

Barnes & Noble.com - Books: The Undertaking, by Thomas Lynch ...
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Lynch, Thomas Lynch, Paperback, 1985, Book, ISBN: 0140276238, Essays, Self-Improvement, ...
search.barnesandnoble.com/ The-Undertaking/ Thomas-Lynch/ e/ 9780140276237/

The Undertaking (Main Page)
Thomas Lynch. The Undertaking. Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. A chronicle of small-town life and death told through the eyes of a poet who is also an ...
www.wwnorton.com/ catalog/ spring97/ undert.htm

Thomas Lynch Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade ...
In his collection of essays The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Lynch brings the poet's eye and pen to the discussion of how we do treat ...
findarticles.com/ p/ articles/ mi_qa4004/ is_200107/ ai_n9001885

Antipixel | Blog | Thomas Lynch, Poet-Slash-Undertaker
The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade ww Norton & Co. (Penguin does the paperback), 1997. ISBN: 0393041123 ...
www.antipixel.com/ blog/ archives/ 2002/ 09/ 20/ thomas_lynch_poetslashundertaker.html

FRONTLINE: the undertaking: undertakers: an interview with thomas ...
Read the full text of this essay, one of several collected in Lynch's award-winning book, The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade. Thomas Lynch ...
www.pbs.org/ wgbh/ pages/ frontline/ undertaking/ undertakers/ lynch.html

About the author (1997)

Thomas Lynch lives in Milford, Michigan, where he is the funeral director.

Bibliographic information

QR code for The Undertaking
TitleThe Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade
AuthorThomas Lynch
Editionillustrated, reprint
PublisherW W Norton & Company Incorporated, 1997
ISBN0393041123, 9780393041125
Length202 pages
Subjects ›  › 

Social Science / Sociology / General
  
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