Death, American Style

A Cultural History of Dying in America

Lawrence R. Samuel

The notion of one day disappearing from the earth forever is contrary to many of America’s defining cultural values, with death and dying viewed as “un-American” experiences. Arguing that death and dying may be our last major taboo, this book shows how death and dying became almost unmentionable words over the course of the last century. Although we have recently made some progress in reconciling the fact that life is a finite resource, we remain very unprepared for the approaching tsunami of death as the largest generation in history begins to age and die in great numbers. DEATH, AMERICAN STYLE is thus highly timely and relevant, suggesting that Americans need to individually and collectively come to terms with mortality if we are to learn to treat death as an inevitable part of life, and to prepare accordingly. As more and more Americans face end of life decisions, it will be vital for us to radically change the current view of death and dying. The alternative, the author argues, is that the emerging “death-centric” society may bring with it a period of turmoil equivalent to that of the countercultural 1960s and 1970s.

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 212 • Trim: 5¾ x 9

978-0-8108-9573-7 • Paperback • December 2017 • $35.00 • (£30.00)

978-1-4422-2224-3 • eBook • July 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Death & Dying, History / Modern / General, Psychology / Social Psychology

Death, American Style

A Cultural History of Dying in America

Paperback

eBook

Summary

The notion of one day disappearing from the earth forever is contrary to many of America’s defining cultural values, with death and dying viewed as “un-American” experiences. Arguing that death and dying may be our last major taboo, this book shows how death and dying became almost unmentionable words over the course of the last century. Although we have recently made some progress in reconciling the fact that life is a finite resource, we remain very unprepared for the approaching tsunami of death as the largest generation in history begins to age and die in great numbers. DEATH, AMERICAN STYLE is thus highly timely and relevant, suggesting that Americans need to individually and collectively come to terms with mortality if we are to learn to treat death as an inevitable part of life, and to prepare accordingly. As more and more Americans face end of life decisions, it will be vital for us to radically change the current view of death and dying. The alternative, the author argues, is that the emerging “death-centric” society may bring with it a period of turmoil equivalent to that of the countercultural 1960s and 1970s.

Details

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Pages: 212 • Trim: 5¾ x 9

978-0-8108-9573-7 • Paperback • December 2017 • $35.00 • (£30.00)

978-1-4422-2224-3 • eBook • July 2013 • $33.00 • (£25.00)

Subjects: Social Science / Death & Dying, History / Modern / General, Psychology / Social Psychology

Author

Lawrence R. Samuel, PhD, is an independent scholar and author of a number of books of 20th century American cultural history, including Sexidemic: A Cultural History of Sex in America (Rowman, 2013), American Fatherhood: A Cultural History (Rowman, 2016), and Aging in America: A Cultural History.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Much Ado About Dying
2 War Department Regrets
3 Why Can’t We Live Forever?
4 Living Your Dying
5 The Other Side
6 Design For Dying
Conclusion
Bibliography
Notes
Index

Reviews

Cultural historian Samuel addresses Americans' attitudes toward death and grief, explicating how attitudes have been shifting over the past 90 years and what this may portend for the future. Like many other analysts of this subject, Samuel maintains that Americans have strong aversions to talking openly about death and to approaching their own deaths, being far less able to talk about this subject than they are about sex. He contends that Americans remain unprepared for the 'tsunami of deaths' that will inevitably occur with the rising mortalities of the baby-boomer population. Yet, he presents little of the systematic sociological or anthropological evidence that is needed to support this claim of a coming massive dislocation around death. The author presents much useful factual information about death and dying, especially regarding the need to better integrate death into the fabric of everyday living, where most readers will benefit from a readier acceptance of the inevitable. Yet Samuel's breezy writing and occasional anecdotal presentation style periodically works against the full appreciation of his important subject and viewpoints. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.
— Choice Reviews

Professional pundit Samuel (The American Dream: A Cultural History) provides an overview of how Americans have struggled with the issue of dying, from the 1920s to the present, when the great wave of Baby Boomers are increasingly confronted with their mortality. In these nine decades, as Samuel informs readers, America has experienced brutal wars and epidemics, as well as major medical advances that extended life spans considerably, allowing people to ignore the deferred but inevitable terminal moment.
— Publishers Weekly

Dr. Samuel comprehends our current, eternal difficulty with our common fate, unimaginable for many of us, always inevitable. ... While today’s 'radical life-extension' promoters peddle another version of miracle cures, the majority less able to afford such nostrums must get over any expectation of special treatment, Dr. Samuel concludes. ... No longer avoided by the 'eternally young,' he sketches (yet frustratingly, he leaves all but blank this last storyboard) a dire fate for American society if it continues to deny death’s arrival.
— New York Journal of Books

The book is easy, nontechnical reading and would be of interest to psychologists, sociologists, historians, philosophers, medical scientists, and the general reader. Samuel traces Americans’ relationship with death and dying from the 1920s to the present day. ... Death, American Style alerts the reader to an unavoidable tsunami of boomer deaths that, as a society, we need to plan ahead to deal with effectively.
— PsycCRITIQUES

Lawrence Samuel’s Death, American Style is a witty, engrossing and indispensable examination of our last remaining—and most potent—taboo.
— Jeanne Safer, PhD, author of The Normal One: Life with a Difficult or Damaged Sibling and Cain's Legacy: Liberating Siblings from a Lifetime of Rage, Shame, Secrecy, and Regret.

Samuel's book is a fascinating and surprisingly upbeat ride through an unlikely corner of American popular culture. Carefully researched, the book draws on sources as varied as medical counselors, popular evangelists, morality scolds, and death entrepreneurs, all with guest appearances by Mitford and Kubler-Ross. This is a well-told, sometimes amusing, tour through how recent Americans have hedged their bets against the inevitable. We are no different, and just as confused about the end of life, as were our ancestors.
— James W. Green, senior lecturer emeritus of Anthropology, University of Washington Seattle

Features

Lawrence R. Samuel, the author of Death, American Style: A Cultural History of Dying in America, maintains a website at http://www.cultureplanning.com/

Death, American Style

A Cultural History of Dying in America

Lawrence R. Samuel

Death, American Style

A Cultural History of Dying in America

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