The American Way of Death

Blurb

The American Way of Death is an exposé of abuses in the funeral home industry in the United States, written by Jessica Mitford and published in 1963. Feeling that death had become much too sentimentalized, highly commercialized, and, above all, excessively expensive, Mitford published her research, which, she argues, documents the ways in which funeral directors take advantage of the shock and grief of friends and relatives of loved ones to convince them to pay far more than necessary for the funeral and other services, such as availability of so-called "grief counselors," a title she claims is unmerited.
An updated revision, The American Way of Death Revisited, completed by Mitford just before her death in 1996, appeared in 1998.
In keeping with her wishes, Mitford herself had an inexpensive funeral, which cost $533.31 – she was cremated without a ceremony, and the ashes scattered at sea; the cremation itself cost $475. The funeral company was the Pacific Interment Service, which prides itself on "dignity, simplicity, affordability".