{"product_id":"from-here-to-eternity-traveling-the-world-to-find-the-good-death-9780393249897","title":"From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death","description":"\u003cp\u003eFascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. \u003cem\u003eFrom Here to Eternity\u003c\/em\u003e is an immersive global journey that introduces compelling, powerful rituals almost entirely unknown in America.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn rural Indonesia, she watches a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body, which has resided in the family home for two years. In La Paz, she meets Bolivian \u003cem\u003enatitas\u003c\/em\u003e (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls), and in Tokyo she encounters the Japanese kotsuage ceremony, in which relatives use chopsticks to pluck their loved-ones' bones from cremation ashes.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWith boundless curiosity and gallows humor, Doughty vividly describes decomposed bodies and investigates the world's funerary history. She introduces deathcare innovators researching body composting and green burial, and examines how varied traditions, from Mexico's \u003cem\u003eDías de los Muertos\u003c\/em\u003e to Zoroastrian sky burial help us see our own death customs in a new light.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDoughty contends that the American funeral industry sells a particular--and, upon close inspection, \u003cem\u003epeculiar\u003c\/em\u003e--set of \"respectful\" rites: bodies are whisked to a mortuary, pumped full of chemicals, and entombed in concrete. She argues that our expensive, impersonal system fosters a corrosive fear of death that hinders our ability to cope and mourn. By comparing customs, she demonstrates that mourners everywhere respond best when they help care for the deceased, and have space to participate in the process.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eExquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, \u003cem\u003eFrom Here to Eternity\u003c\/em\u003e is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a story about the many fascinating ways people everywhere have confronted the very human challenge of mortality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDoughty, Caitlin:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eCaitlin Doughty\u003c\/strong\u003e is a mortician and the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e best-selling author of \u003cem\u003eSmoke Gets in Your Eyes\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eFrom Here to Eternity\u003c\/em\u003e, and \u003cem\u003eWill My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?\u003c\/em\u003e She is the creator of the web series \u003cem\u003eAsk a Mortician\u003c\/em\u003e, and the founder of The Order of the Good Death. She lives in Los Angeles, California, where she owns a funeral home.\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBlair, Landis:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cstrong\u003eLandis Blair\u003c\/strong\u003e illustrated the prize-winning graphic novel \u003cem\u003eThe Hunting Accident\u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e bestseller \u003cem\u003eFrom Here to Eternity\u003c\/em\u003e, and has published illustrations in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/em\u003e, \u003cem\u003eChicago\u003c\/em\u003e magazine, and \u003cem\u003eMedium\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Chicago, Illinois.","brand":"W. W. Norton \u0026 Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50617735741714,"sku":"9780393249897","price":18.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_a3849992-fa47-4166-9ffe-aab09d171c61.jpg?v=1732526292","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/from-here-to-eternity-traveling-the-world-to-find-the-good-death-9780393249897","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}