Death: A User's Guide Book

	Introduction	ix
1.	Respecting the Dead	1
	Artifacts for the Afterlife	1
	Living Death for Wives and Servants	4
	Universal Treatment of the Dying	9
	Displaying the Deceased	13
	The Vigil and Other Customs	18
	The Funeral: A Good Send-off	21
	Wailing and Other Demonstrations	28
	Mourning, Noon, and Night	30
	Prayer: A Power Tool	33
2.	Heaven, Hell, or Reincarnation?	37
	Dead Boring Underworlds	37
	Soul: Food for Thought	40
	Reincarnation: Back to the Beginning	43
	The Underworld Gets Upgraded	47
	For Heaven's Sake	50
	Is the Hereafter Sexist?	57
	What the Hell!	60
	Is Heaven Elitist?	62
	Dead Reckoning: The Judgment of Sin	64
	Eternity Is a Long, Long Time	70
3.	What Do You Do With the Remains?	75
	Grave Concerns	75
	The Physiology of Death	78
	Burials and Bones	82
	Hang-ups About Cremation	84
	Mummification: Breaking the Dust-to-Dust Circuit	90
	Miracle Busting	97
	Early Modern Pickling	99
	The World's Most Famous Embalmees	102
	Cryonics: A Cool Way of Preservation	106
	Day-to-Day Embalming	109
	Funky Exits	113
4.	Burial Grounds, Coffins, and Monuments	118
	The One-Upmanship of Death	118
	Rise and Fall of the Churchyard	123
	"Garden Cemeteries" and Beyond	128
	Buried Under What Marker?	135
	Rest in (Disturbed) Peace	138
	Where Are the Famous Buried?	142
	Buried in What Container?	144
	The Eco Argument	149
	Rise of the Undertaker--The "Dismal Trader"	152
	R.I.P.-off?	154
	The Funeral Service	161
5.	When You've Got to Go ...	163
	When Will It Happen?	163
	How Will It Happen?	167
	Done to Death	169
	Heretics, Deviants, Witches	171
	Man's (Ingenious) Inhumanity to Man	174
	Kill Thy Neighbor	179
	Oops, Accident!	181
	Cause of Death: Stupidity	184
	Odds Against Death by Mishap	190
	Suicide: The Self-Destruct Button	191
	Microbes: Natural-Born Killers	199
	Death and the "Little Death"	205
	How Do You Know You're Dead?	208
6.	Dead Nervous (or) Nervous of the Dead	212
	Precautions Against Death	212
	Welcome Home to the Dead	216
	Ghosts, Ghouls--and the Undead	219
	Attractions of Death	225
	Is There Anyone There?	228
	Rest in Pieces	232
	Grave Robbing: The Oldest Profession?	236
	Body Snatching: A Nice Little Earner	239
	Buried Alive	244
	NDEs: Back to the Future?	250
7.	Not so Grim Reminders	253
	Quipping Death into Shape	253
	Words, Words, Words	257
	Last Words ... Maybe	262
	Goodwill, Ill Will	266
	Obits: The Smallest Biographies	274
	The Epitaph: Final, Final Words	281
	Afterword	291
	Index	295