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A Life Among the Dead

On sale

12th September 2024

Price: £22

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Selected: Hardcover / ISBN-13: 9781035412228

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THE IRISH TIMES BESTSELLER

‘A profoundly compassionate, educational reflection on death’The Irish Times

When death is a way of life . . .

In A Life Among the Dead, David McGowan, Ireland’s best known Funeral Director, and subject of the Award-winning Netflix documentary The Funeral Director, guides us through the business, the science and the unexplained elements of death.

Alongside exploring the unique approach of Irish culture when it comes to grief and death, David seeks to demystify the process of dying and what happens to the body afterward.

The only certainty when we come into this life is that we are going to leave it, and yet it’s something most people are reluctant to discuss or allow themselves to think about. David’s mission is to open up conversations and encourage people to have an understanding of their loved ones wishes as well as their own.

Poignant, humorous and educational, this is an account of a life lived with purpose in the service of the dead.

Reviews

Adrienne Murphy, The Irish Times
A profoundly compassionate, educational reflection on death, and the rites we've developed to help us say goodbye and to support us in our grief. McGowan's wise elder words, so conversational in style, are like finding yourself in a cosy pub by the fire with an extraordinary community ritual leader, and getting the chance to talk to him for hours, about what only he knows.