Welcome to Litsy!

A look at the funny side of death including historic funerary practices, unhinged obituaries, unusual funerals, and out-of-pocket deathbed confessions.
If you‘re a fan of Caitlin Doughty, you‘ll enjoy this book.

This is a fascinating book, fully illustrated with colour photographs (and a few reproductions of pamphlets and such, though these are generally too small to see much detail). Some of the ways in which these “catacomb saints“ are decorated are amazing to see, just in terms of craft.

Not one I read because I venerate saints, and probably a little too academic/secular to please those who do.

The hospice I volunteer for had stacks of these guides in the office. Good, basic information for what the last weeks and hours of life can look and sound like. The signs can be scary if you don‘t know what to expect. Great info to have at the next death cafe!

Death mask of Boris Pasternak (author) at the Nobel Prize Museum.

Tagged book has a great section about death masks and one of their sculptors.

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Read for my “Death Becomes Us” bookclub.

What a useful book! I will get a physical copy to use the workbook part at the end.

If you want help deciding what should happen to your body after you die, this is a great reference. It discusses lots of options and how to let your family or caregivers know your wishes.

I think it is a kindness to let your loved ones know, so they won‘t have to guess or make hard decisions in a time of crisis.

Genuinely profound.

Read for my “Death Becomes Us” bookclub with @Eyelit and @thestarlesscasea . We read books about death, all nonfiction so far, stemming from a common interest in Stiff by Mary Roach and The Mummy Congress (⬇️).

Because we‘ve read a lot on the topic, this felt like repetition to me, except for the exhausting details about presidential burials, casket and hearse materials, and grave robbery protective contraptions. A bit dull, unless it‘s a new ⬇️

Very interesting book. Found it in Waterstones and picked up on a whim. If you like interesting books about famous corpses this is the one for you!

#smallbusinesssaturday #bookhaul 3 stores visited (1 totally new to me) and a multitude of books added to my tbr because I sadly can‘t buy all the books I‘m interested. Here are some that came home with me today. 🤩

I found this book at an indie bookstore in Seattle. It has very blunt, direct language (no softness or beating around the bush), and lots of dark humor. The author talks about his patients, and what is like to care for the dying. He especially talks a lot about those who wish to die, because they are suffering so needlessly. He provided that service with compassion to many of them. Shown: if you know, you know. And you‘ll understand why I⬇️