What Remains?: Life, Death and the Human Art of Undertaking
English
By (author): Rupert Callender
Sharp, angry, punchily philosophical and often funny. It basically invents a new type of lifestyle aspiration: deathstyle. The Times
Callenders joyous, thought-provoking book is an account of how his own early encounters with bereavement led to him becoming a new kind of undertaker. Daily Mail
This book is a great work of craft and beauty. Salena Godden
I loved What Remains? Funny, demystifying, but mostly, deeply moving. Kathy Burke, Actor and Director
This compelling personal story of a pioneering punk undertaker is a moving revelation. Love Reading
Inspiring and unforgettable. John Higgs, author of William Blake vs the World
Death has shown me . . . the unbreakable core of love and courage that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.
Ru Callender wanted to become an undertaker in order to offer people a more honest experience than the stilted formality of traditional Victorian funerals. Driven by raw emotion and the unresolved grief of losing his own parents, Ru brought an outsider, DIY ethos to the business of death, combined with the kinship and inspiration he found in rave culture, social outlaws and political nonconformists.
Ru has carried coffins across windswept beaches, sat in pubs with caskets on beer-stained tables, helped children fire flaming arrows into their fathers funeral pyre, turned modern occult rituals into performance art and, with the band members of the KLF, is building the Peoples Pyramid of bony bricks in Liverpool all in the name of creating truly authentic experiences that celebrate those who are no longer here and those who remain.
Radical, poignant, unflinchingly real and laugh-aloud funny, What Remains? will change the way you think about life, death and the human experience.
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