a really enjoyable and touching exploration into the jobs that we need but rarely see recognition. definitely recommend.

This was a very informative and interesting look at those who work with death. It was only mildly sad a couple times.

Oh my goodness. For a book about death and the “death industry” this book is seriously beautiful. Reading this before the one year anniversary of my grandmothers passing was genuinely therapeutic. Obviously, some of the chapters are a more difficult read, as with most short story collections, but All The Living and The Dead is excellently done and so interesting.

An occasionally brutal but compelling, and most of all important, look not only at the death industry but at the overall relationship modern society has with death and how it can be improved. Excellently written.

Not an easy read (I'm over a month overdue at the library --yikes!) But necessary. I appreciate the chapter on baby loss. I feel like that's often overlooked.

This one is hard to categorize. I can't say that I "enjoyed" listening to this, but I'm far more informed about the topic than I was before I read the book. I admire Campbell's research abilities, and her storytelling is fabulous. There are so many people doing work I cannot even imagine--can't imagine doing the work, and haven't ever imagined that such a position existed. Worth reading, at any rate.

2.5 rounded up. This is another book I thought would be fitting to read in October. And as it approaches the sixth-month mark of the death of my dad I wanted to read more about people who deal with different aspects of death as their profession.

Each chapter is about a different occupation, most of which I found interesting. I learned some things. I became more curious about things. I also wish the author would have injected less of her opinion into the writing. As a journalist, I had hoped she would stick to sharing the facts without the work becoming a personal book length blog or even part editorial.

I read the book wanting to know what those who were interviewed thought about being a funeral director, a worker at a crematory, prepping bodies for scientific research, etc. While I did get a glimpse of what these people do every day, their thoughts often felt choppy due to the author's personal monologues.