Reviews for Grave Expectations
". . . the book is wonderful. It's charming, it's informative and funny."
"This is a wonderful workbook for planning your own sendoff, written with wisdom and whimsy. It’s savvy and silly, heartfelt and helpful."
"Having difficulty mustering a celebratory mood in advance of what looks to be the grimmest of New Years? Why not just bury yourself in arrangements for the one event where all and sundry will be (you hope) truly bummed out—your funeral. Who knows, you might even enjoy yourself. Especially if you consult this book."
"This is not your ordinary funeral guide. For example, there's a chapter called Freeze, Boil, Liquefy, and Preserve. What to do with the body when you're done with it. And there are questions throughout the book to plan your funeral. The Food! The Location! The Guests! The Music! . . ."
Featured on the Today Show's "Books" section: Funky Funeral? 'Recipes' for your remains. Who says funerals can’t be fun? Two authors give tips for a quirky send-off. Read article
In what may be the most entertaining funeral planner on bookshelves, Bailey and Flowers offer a guide to help prepare for the end. Interspersed among chapters discussing the merits of environmentally friendly burials and the various ways a person can have their body used for science, the authors offer facts and tidbits about death-related practices from around the world.
This is a wonderful workbook for planning your own sendoff, written with wisdom and whimsy. It’s savvy and silly, heartfelt and helpful. Its guidance is helpful especially to those who need their imagination stirred and those who procrastinate and the authors state, “...if you don’t laugh while reading this book, then we haven’t done our job.” They obviously enjoy “thinking >outside the box.” I recommend “Grave Expectations” especially for those who are sad or disorganized or sadly disorganized. Your heirs will thank you, and you need to know that now since it isn’t likely to be apparent to you when the time comes for them to express that gratitude. .
Thanks from our Readers & Fans
My dear departed cousin, who was an only child and the last of her line, appointed me her executor, and lucky me, last month I got to make the funeral arrangements. Though not observant herself, she did not mind if there were a religious aspect to the affair, " since funerals were for the living , not the dead. " She did however, make one specific request concerning her funeral. She had purchased a burial plot in her paternal family's ancestral cemetery, located in the wilds of the Western Pennsylvania's mountainous coal country. Unable to locate this hinterland graveyard, even with a GPS, the cortege from Philadelphia became one Pythonesque episode after another, including the temporary loss of the hearse, which turned down the wrong dirt track running off, I swear, "Monkey Run Road ". Apropos to her status as a tenured professor, my cousin was indeed late for her own funeral. The upside of the adventure is that I, personally, have now opted for cremation, no-fuss, no-muss and easy on the survivors. I look forward to reading whatever pointers may be contained in Grave Expectations.
This is a long awaited and yearned for aid in demystifying and familiarizing us all with our constant stranger, death. I look forward to seeing it EVERYWHERE; from school libraries to nursing home sitting rooms and hospital waiting rooms, to coffee tables around the world. Finally, a healthy, humorous, helpful way to imagine the unimaginable in a practical and clear-eyed fashion! Thank you.
