Living with the Dead

Vibeke Maria Viestad (Author) Vibeke Maria Viestad is an archaeologist at the University of Oslo and Honorary Research Fellow at Wits University, Johannesburg. She is the author of Dress as Social Relations.Andreas Viestad (Author) Andreas Viestad is a writer, TV chef, restaurateur and food activist. He is the longtime host of New Scandinavian Cooking and a former columnist of the Washington Post. He is the author of Dinner in Rome.The Viestads live by a graveyard in Oslo and on a farm outside of Cape Town.

• Introduction: Death Is for EveryoneChapter 1: In the Beginning There Was the FuneralChapter 2: Death as a Practical ProblemChapter 3: Packed in PlasticChapter 4: The Business of DeathChapter 5: Choosing a CoffinChapter 6: Dust to DustChapter 7: Up in SmokeChapter 8: Piecemeal and DividedChapter 9: A Monument to the DeadChapter 10: The Empty and Nameless GraveChapter 11: Death as JewelryChapter 12: Living with the DeadSourcesAcknowledgementsIndex

Death is existential, instrumental and emotional. In revealing the stories of ceremonies and practicalities from near and far, across space and time, the Viestads offer us an account that’s deadly serious as well as driven by a curiosity about rituals and feelings. A beautifully written, highly informative and surprisingly entertaining book.