Thomas Lynch - The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade

Pros: Combines good writing with (mostly) interesting topics.

Cons: Themes sort of jump around on you.

The Bottom Line: Not entirely for the squeamish, nor for the thrill-seeker, Lynch writes in the persona of the undertaker -- calm, serene, helpful, dignified.

Review: Thomas Lynch is a quintessentially American hyphenate -- a person whose life work cannot be summed up in a single word. As Jennifer Lopez is a singer hyphen actor, Mr. Lynch is a poet hyphen undertaker.

He admits right off the bat that...

Pros: cool cover, cool title

Cons: most of the rest

Review: I bought this book because it looked so fascinating. The inside scoop on what undertaking is all about! Gross stories! Or ones with human interest. What the heck DOES an undertaker do with a corpse. I was sadly disappointed. Instead of the...