I’m grieving right now and I’m pretty sensitive. So I probably should have considered my mental state when I saw Obitchuary by Madison Reyes and Spender Henry at the library, but I didn’t consider anything when I checked it out because it’s called Obitchuary. I like puns, dark humor, and am easily entertained.
It’s a fun, interesting book of trivia, but it doesn’t have much besides factoids.
I found out that caskets and coffins are not the same thing! Coffins roughly mimic the human shape and have gone out of fashion. Caskets are the common option today and they’re rectangles.
I learned about 19th century mourning warehouses, where you could get all your mourning needs (veils, etc.) in one place. Topshop’s origins go back to one of these warehouses.
Wills – most are straightforward, but Houdini had a clause that his wife hold an annual seance to talk to him. The jerk didn’t believe in the afterlife. Heinrich Heine stipulated that his wife remarry so at least one man would regret Heine’s death (go home, every other ‘I hate my wife’ joke).
The title of the book would make you expect obituaries to be covered, but it’s just what the authors’ podcast is called. There are still obituaries. I learned that Alfred Nobel, inventor of dynamite, allegedly created his peace prize when he saw his obituary called him a “merchant of death.” A great self penned obituary by Val Patterson included accidental PhD falsification, geyser tampering, and letting Disneyland know they can relax now that he’s dead.
Even though the book was short and interesting, it was still too long. I read it in one sitting, and maybe I shouldn’t have because by the end it felt like it was just the authors stacking trivia without building anything. They talked about last words, deathbed confessions, funeral fashion (for the living and dead), and funeral entertainment. Shockingly, some people look down on those who hire funeral strippers. There was a section on lobotomies. I get that that’s a kind of death, but it felt awkward and unnecessary.
It talks about grief too, but I kind of skimmed those parts.
Overall, it was a good distraction and I’ve got about 20 things to Google now. Including the creepy dolls that I didn’t think belonged in the book.