Curtains: Adventures of an Undertaker in Training (Jokinen) - Book Reviews

Book Reviews
A CBC journalist in Winnepeg taking "a month's leave to dabble in deathcare" reveals the changing face of the funeral industry in this informative but rote tour of duty, an update of sorts on Jessica Mitford's 1963 The American Way of Death. On his first day as an intern at the Winnepeg crematorium run by Neil Bardal, the undertaker tells him that "the traditional funeral is gone and it's never coming back"; the bereft world has embraced cremation, with specific impact on a number of industry segments, from vehicles and florists to tombstones and caskets. Jokinen is nonchalantly graphic when getting into the day-to-day of cremation ("I dump the pan of bones onto the steel table and crunch through it with the heavy magnet"), touching on juvenile at times, but makes the point in many ways that, eventually, we'll all be paying for this industry's changes. The industry's big bet is that 75 million North American baby boomers, afraid of death, will want unprecedented control over their funerals, illustrated in examples like a successful Milwaukee funeral home owner who calls Ritz-Carlton and Disney his models. Readers who understand that Jokinen took on the role of apprentice undertaker for one reason (they're reading it) will find an interesting glimpse into an almost-invisible industry, and the forces pushing it in strange new directions.
Publishers Weekly


Jokinen gathered material for this by taking a month off his Winnipeg journalist job (go Blue Bombers!!) to intern as an undertaker. Though it shares similarities with Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, this also details what it's like to be on the other end of the business. The result is a readable, dare I say enjoyable, behind-the-scenes look at what actually happens to your body at the end.... I found the educative streak here exemplary of the best kinds of DIY materials and was surprised to find out that a cremation is significantly cheaper than a funeral....  Thus, the dickering scene in The Big Lebowski where Walter is haggling over the cost of the receptacle isn't tacky, it's a harbinger. A great read. —Douglas Lord, "Books for Dudes", Booksmack!
Library Journal


Jokinen’s wry observations on and revelations about mortality and the industry it has engendered evoke a youthful adventure into the unknown—not only the philosophical mystery of death but also the “black hole” between the last breath and the reappearance at funeral or cemetery.... Recounting his experiences, he delivers ironic dialogue with stand-up skill and smoothly integrates technical information...and market data...without hindering the flow of readable insights. —Whitney Scott
Booklist


In this report on the modern funeral industry, Jokinen updates The American Way of Death, Jessica Mitford’s classic 1963 treatise on the subject…An astute, measured look at the modern death-care industry.
Kirkus Reviews