Some might think reading a book about the dead a bit morbid. Not so for this reviewer withg this insightful book about those who choose to work with the dead.
Hayley Campbell has had a fascination with the dead since she was a child when her Dad, a comic book artist, was illustrating a graphic novel about Jack the Ripper. Those drawings of ‘Jackarippy’ was something that fascinated her. This lifelong interest is what has fuelled her to research and write the book.
We travel with her to visit a funeral director, a death mask sculptor, a grave digger and even investigates cryonics. She meets up with a crime scene cleaner in a dodgy diner in an unscrupulous part of town. She travels to the Mayo Clinic in the US to meet the Director of Anatomical Services. He accepts bodies that have been donated to science, ensuring that various body parts are provided to students to learn. He carefully puts these bodies back together to return to the families after they have helped science.
This book is very moving but at times also amusing, and always thoughtful and informative. Campbell writes passionately and compassionately, bringing those people who perform these roles into the light. She highlights the values of respect these workers hold for the dead.
All the Living and the Dead is just fascinating and important. After all, how are we meant to confront death unless we can look it squarely in the eye?
Reviewed by Jane Stephens
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Hayley Campbell writes for WIRED, BuzzFeed, The Guardian, GQ, Esquire, Empire, VICE, FIGHTLAND, New Statesman, McSweeney’s, The Comics Journal, hosts the Unpopped podcast for the BBC and Must Watch on BBC Radio 5 Live. She wrote a book about Neil Gaiman and her latest book, All the Living and the Dead, was published in 2022.
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