""Through story, poetry, and insightful reflections, reveals how ritual, community, and the sacred restore the original context of grief."--Provided by publisher"--

Journalist Erica Buist traveled to seven death festivals around the world (Nepal, Madagascar, Indonesia, Sicily, Japan, Mexico, and New Orleans) to understand how other cultures deal with death.

Daniel is a decent young man who is married to Jane. They live at his father's home. When his father dies, it is up to him to organize his funeral. On the morning of the funeral, with a suitably grave expression on his face, Daniel is ready to welcome his father's friends and relatives. But preserving the dignity inherent in such a circumstance will be a hard task. Particularly with an undertaker who botches his work; his famous, but selfish brother...

The Queen begins with a familiar epigraph "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown"--Henry IV, Part II. The action of the film takes place during the week following the death, on August 31, 1997 of Diana, Princess of Wales. One of its accomplishments, courtesy of adroit use of newsreel and other contemporary footage, is to remind viewers of the deep sadness that surrounded that event. It is also about the divergent and potentially ruinous ways the...