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Last Rites
- The Evolution of the American Funeral
- Narrated by: T. Ryder Smith
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
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Last Rites
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Publisher's summary
Author and undertaker Todd Harra shares a fascinating and oft-surprising exploration of the history and meaning of funeral rituals.
Why do we embalm the deceased? Why are funerals so expensive? Is there a reason coffins are shaped the way they are? Where does the tradition of viewing the body come from? Ceremonies for honoring the deceased are crucial parts of our lives, but few people know where our traditional practices come from—and what they reveal about our history, culture, and beliefs about death. In Last Rites, author Todd Harra takes listeners on a fascinating exploration of American funeral customs—exploring where they came from, what they mean, and how they are still evolving.
Funeral practices are always changing—sometimes due to technology, respect for tradition, shifting sensibilities, or even to thwart grave robbers. Here you’ll learn about the ancient influences for American rites, how the funerals of political figures and fallen soldiers shaped our practices, answers to the most puzzling enigmas about the undertaker’s craft, and much more.
The American funeral continues to evolve. Today, many people are turning to approaches such as green burial, mushroom suits, Aquamation (flameless cremation), and even composting. Whether you’re planning a funeral service or are simply intrigued by the meaning behind American burial practices, Last Rites is an informative and compelling exploration of the history—and future—of the ceremonies we use to say farewell to those who have departed this world.
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
From shoot-outs at funerals to dead men screaming and runaway corpses, undertakers have plenty of unusual stories to tell - and a special way of telling them. In this macabre and moving compilation, funeral directors across the country share their most embarrassing, jaw-dropping, irreverent, and deeply poignant stories about life at death's door.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A wonderful read!
- By Grace Adele Spruiell on 12-25-22
By: Todd Harra, and others
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Unnatural Causes
- By: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Narrated by: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 478
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 424
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 419
As the country's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has spent a lifetime uncovering the secrets of the dead. When death is sudden or unexplained, it falls to Shepherd to establish the cause. Each post-mortem is a detective story in its own right - and Shepherd has performed over 23,000 of them. Through his skill, dedication and insight, Dr Shepherd solves the puzzle to answer our most pressing question: how did this person die?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Boring!
- By Zoesmydog on 06-21-19
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All the Living and the Dead
- From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
- By: Hayley Campbell
- Narrated by: Hayley Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 333
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 290
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 289
Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent
- By Noelle on 09-01-22
By: Hayley Campbell
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Teasing Secrets from the Dead
- My Investigations at America’s Most Infamous Crime Scenes
- By: Emily Craig PhD
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 142
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 142
Emily Craig has been a witness to history, helping to seek justice for thousands of murder victims, both famous and unknown. It’s a personal story that you won’t soon forget. Emily first became intrigued by forensics work when, as a respected medical illustrator, she was called in by the local police to create a model of a murder victim’s face. Her fascination with that case led to a dramatic midlife career change: She would go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist - and one of the most respected and best-known “bone hunters” in the nation.
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3 out of 5 stars
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A vanity project.
- By Book fiend Kel on 07-17-22
By: Emily Craig PhD
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Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?
- Big Questions from Tiny Mortals
- By: Caitlin Doughty
- Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,380
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,900
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,882
In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, Doughty blends her mortician’s knowledge of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to 35 distinctive questions posed by her youngest fans. In her inimitable voice, Doughty details lore and science of what happens to, and inside, our bodies after we die. Why do corpses groan? What causes bodies to turn colors during decomposition? And why do hair and nails appear longer after death?
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5 out of 5 stars
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There is just something with Caitlin Doughty...
- By Elijah on 09-21-19
By: Caitlin Doughty
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The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,086
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 926
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 923
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
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4 out of 5 stars
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FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
- By H. Zophie Leslea on 08-19-21
By: Sam Kean
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What the Dead Know
- Learning About Life as a New York City Death Investigator
- By: Barbara Butcher
- Narrated by: Barbara Butcher
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 321
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 296
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Story5 out of 5 stars 296
Barbara Butcher was early in her recovery from alcoholism when she found an unexpected lifeline: a job at the Medical Examiner’s Office in New York City. The second woman ever hired for the role of Death Investigator in Manhattan, she was the first to last more than three months. The work was gritty, demanding, morbid, and sometimes dangerous—she loved it. Butcher (yes, that is her real name, and she has heard all the jokes) spent day in and day out investigating double homicides, gruesome suicides, and most heartbreaking of all, underage rape victims who had also been murdered.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Didn’t Want The Book To End
- By Becky Sullivan on 06-29-23
By: Barbara Butcher
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All That Remains
- A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes
- By: Sue Black
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 497
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 425
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 425
Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller fans, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I wanted a science book about forensics. I got a mostly-memoir instead.
- By A Customer on 11-29-19
By: Sue Black
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Lay Them to Rest
- On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
- By: Laurah Norton
- Narrated by: Laurah Norton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Enjoyable author, but not my style
- By Anonymous User on 11-21-23
By: Laurah Norton
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Gory Details
- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 339
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 297
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 297
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Feels like old school Discovery channel
- By Anonymous User on 02-15-23
By: Erika Engelhaupt
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Written in Bone
- Hidden Stories in What We Leave Behind
- By: Sue Black
- Narrated by: Sue Black
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 125
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 107
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Story5 out of 5 stars 107
In her memoir All That Remains, internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist Dame Sue Black recounted her life lived eye to eye with the Grim Reaper. During the course of it, she offered a primer on the basics of identifying human remains, plenty of insights into the fascinating processes of death, and a sober, compassionate understanding of its inescapable presence in our existence. Now in this book, Black builds on that memoir, taking us on a guided tour of the human skeleton and explaining how each person's life history is revealed in their bones.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A very human story by a very believable human
- By Gary on 09-21-21
By: Sue Black