Tales From Kentucky Funeral Homes
William Lynwood Montell
University Press of Kentucky
ISBN: 978-0-8131-2567-1
See it at Amazon
File Under: Non-Fiction, Oral History, Eww Gross

Did you know that until the 1970s in a lot of places (including Kentucky)ambulance service was often provided by a funeral home because they had the vehicles set up to carry people? Did you know that when funerals were held in people's homes that the family often helped with the embalming process? Did you know that when the embalming process occurs there is bodily fluid that is removed and when embalming was done in a home it was usually just buried in the yard? Think about that if you live in a house over say 50 years old.

I think a review of this book is pretty simple, if you find these sort of facts interesting you will like this book. If you think those facts are morbid and you really don't want to know then this book probably isn't for you.

Author William Lynwood Montell interviewed several people in the funeral business and collected their stories. Then he sorted those stories by topics such as practices throughout the years, the bereaved and funeral humor and mistakes.

I found this to be an interesting book that taught me a lot of information about this business and humanized the folks who perform these services.

Bonus Material

The only video I could think about that featured a funeral.