Thomas Lynch is a second-generation Irish Catholic that grew up in the midwest into the family tradition of undertaking. He has quite a way with words, being a published poet, and these short biographical stories infused with lessons and ideals have a beautiful poignancy that made even a common story seem somewhat profound. However, I found that he focused a lot more on his personal life and religion rather than his career in the funeral business than I expected and since the main reason I wanted to read this book was to get a personal view of the funeral trade, I was a bit disappointed. I did like his stories about Ireland and the differences between how people view death and the dying between the two countries, but I'm not Catholic or at all religious so the strong religious overtones were sometimes too much for me. Overall, a very interesting read but not quite what I hoped for. ( )

Thomas Lynch's writing--in this book and others--is fantastic. I read this many years ago, but have been thinking about it again recently, and would like to re-read it. He writes about a very delicate subject with insight, compassion, and, amazingly, humor. ( )

What it's like to be a funeral director, written by a poet. Much better than I'm making it sound ( )

A collection of essays from poet and undertaker Lynch concerning life and death and the ways people handle the latter. Lynch has a gift with language—it’s obvious he’s a poet—and though I disagree with some of his later thoughts on abortion and the death penalty (I’m logical in his book since I believe in both) I cannot fault his logic. His descriptions of life in a small town, as well as life in a village in Ireland, are delicately done. The last book that rendered so well human relationships was Kathleen Finneran’s The Tender Land. ( )

Having trouble getting into this book. Past the first 50 pages about 125 to go. I was hoping the book be more about the Undertaking trade. It is more about the life of a man who is an undertaker and his view of the world.