Mortuary Confidential: Undertakers Spill the Dirt

Great read! I've always wanted to know more about something that affects everyone so dearly. It was very interesting and even hilarious. Yes, there can be humor, even in death. Ultimately, it was very respectably written, and gave educational insight into a little known field.

This book is well worth reading. Not only does it give you a glimpse into the macabre and poignant world of morticians, it has moments that are so absurdly funny that I found myself laughing out loud! But it's not only funny; this book is touching too, as it makes you think.

This is a very easy read; if you are looking for something entertaining and light, yet bizarre and unusual, this book is a great choice.

I know these are personal stories, but they could all use a good editor. Rather than really sharing details and truths of the industry, you get a lot of rather dull "the hearse broke down" and "chicks don't dig dudes who work at funeral homes" stories. If your boring friend of a friend worked in the death biz, he'd tell you these tales at happy hour, and you'd be thinking how you hadn't nearly enough to drink. Read "Stiff: The curious life of human cadavers" instead.

Seriously boring very short stories more about their irresponsibility or mistakes that doesn't leave you confident in their abilities. Nothing is very in depth or interesting, just kind of small talk stories that have no behind the scenes you are looking for.

I'm surprised at the good reviews for this book ... It was so boring and anticlimactic! It's as if the author ( can't believe two people contributed to this garbage!) came up with what he thought might be stories worth telling??? No way man! Nobody cares that your wife's name is "Betty or Elizabeth ?" ... That's not a story for a book about mortuaries ? And the three pages dedicated to "Dead man Screams" ends with a black cat running out from under the death bed! Really!? The author is reminded of the dead man screaming everytime he sees a black cat! Are you serious???
I'm an avid reader and I love a good story whether it's written by a Pulitzer Prize winner or a child .... This is one of the most disappointing books I've ever read ...so bad in fact, that I'm compelled to review it here on the store ! Uuuuugh!

Someone said this would be more interesting if you were in the funeral industry, but I am and this book bores me to tears. "Spilling the Dirt" to me means telling secrets, but these stories aren't anything much different than any other funeral director might go through. They aren't even funny or interesting. Super easy read to waste time though.

While I found the book somewhat amusing I felt that to get the full appreciation of it I would need to be a mortician. I have a feeling that morticians reading this book would be falling down because they were laughing so hard. Just not that facinating or funny to a non mortician.

Some of the stories were very touching, and others absurd. The last story about ghosts I DO NOT BELIEVE FOR ONE MOMENT. I have known 3 morticians with a combined experience of over 100 years and NONE of them have ever encountered a ghost or anything close to it---have never seen a body move---or anything out of the ordinary!!!!!

I wished some of the stories were from an older time. I thought there was too much modernity, talk of girlfriends, not wives, and lots of liquor.

The funeral industry sure is changing and this book is representative of that fact. Perhaps read 'Tom Fisher Funeral Director, Chapters in a Life' by Grace Fisher. [...]
, and get a real taste of the funeral business. Or "Nine Years Under" by Sheri Booker which is factual & excellent.

This book was like reading Reader's Digest, a
Disney-esque collection of yawners. Not funny,
and not much of an inside look at the business.
It left me depressed, but not because of the subject
matter, but because of the high-school level writing.
I donated my copy to the thrift store