Jones's clear-sighted, fearlessly inquisitive approach to death and dying-whether the subject is autopsy, cremation, cannibalism, suicide, euthanasia or capital punishment-makes this unusual compendium invaluable and oddly uplifting. She surveys attitudes toward death, from Neandertal, ancient Egyptian, Greek and Celtic beliefs in an afterlife to the modern denial of life's finitude. Jones (Sexual Harassment) scrutinizes biogerontologists' scientific theories of aging; looks at the current debate over whether near-death experiences actually offer a glimpse of the other side; investigates death in popular culture, literature and film; and presents demographic data on infant mortality, AIDS, murder, causes of death, and life expectancy around the world. Her wide-ranging discussion of the soul, afterworlds, reincarnation, ghosts and spirit communication as filtered through the world's religions and spiritualism will challenge skeptics. Although some of the material tends toward the offbeat or bizarre-cult murders, morbid jokes, famous cemeteries, historic mass graves, weird deaths-she concludes with a practical section offering sensitive advice on living wills, choosing where to die, funeral arrangements and coping with loss.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Booklist
Death fascinates. Whether the subject at hand is violent death, coping with slow death, or one form or another of life after death, best-sellers, movies, and TV shows flail away at death incessantly. To sort out the whys and wherefores of this truly universal feature of human life, Jones offers a comprehensive survey of the many aspects of death and dying. Its how-to section is useful and efficacious, offering such utilities as cost analyses of various funeral arrangements, yet it pales in comparison to the entertainment section. Features like "Which Way Did They Go? Remarkable Deaths of Remarkable People" and "Once Is Not Enough: All-Star Serial Killers" make for definitely intriguing if not necessarily imperative reading. Equally fulfilling as dark-humored entertainment and as a self-help source for both the seriously morbid and those addicted to planning things down to the last detail, R.I.P. is a reader's delight but a cataloger's nightmare (reason enough to select it, many librarians may think). Mike Tribby
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