I have too much to say about this book to say it as well as I'd like to, and have already tried at length and failed, so will try to keep my review short. Thomas Long and Thomas Lynch both write well and informatively about their subject in The Good Funeral, and it was a fascinating, although, for me, a bit of a plodding read. I would love to have read it in a class, and to have had the opportunity to meet with other people to discuss each section. It will, no doubt, be useful in seminaries and mortuary science schools for just that purpose. For this lay reader, though, it didn't quite work. I am often drawn to books about death, and read this one as an admirer of Thomas Lynch's previous works and a veteran of many funerals. But I disagreed with the authors' conclusions (particularly on the role of faith in making meaning of death and the importance of having the deceased's body present) about what is required for a "good funeral." Still, I am grateful to have benefited from Long and Lynch's insights from their many years as pastor and funeral director, and they have given me a lot of food for thought as well as a couple of good leads on what to read next. ( )

Two of the most authoritative voices on the funeral industry come together here in one volume to discuss the current state of the funeral. Through their different lenses -- one as a preacher and one as a funeral director -- Thomas G. Long and Thomas Lynch alternately discuss several challenges facing "the good funeral," including the commercial aspects that have led many to be suspicious of funeral directors, the sometimes tense relationship between pastors and funeral directors, the tendency of modern funerals to exclude the body from the service, and the rapid growth in cremation. The book features forewords from Patrick Lynch, President of the National Funeral Directors Association, and Barbara Brown Taylor, highly praised author and preacher. It is an essential resource for funeral directors, morticians, and pastors, and anyone else interested in current funeral practices. (Amazon.com)