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The unclaimed : abandonment and hope in the City of Angels / Pamela Prickett ; Stefan Timmermans.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Crown, [2024]Copyright date: ©2024Edition: First editionDescription: x, 313 pages ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593239056
  • 0593239059
Subject(s):
Contents:
Prologue: Ashes -- Part 1. Alive -- New directions -- Aging in place -- My way -- Van life -- Part 2. Forgotten -- Gone -- Investigation -- County dispo -- Part 3. Remembered -- The dead don't vote -- A calling -- Steel and sassafras -- Standing in the gap -- Presente -- Epilogue: The kindness of clay -- Afterword: Memento mori.
Summary: "An intimate, deeply moving investigation of an underreported phenomenon--the rising number of unclaimed dead in America today--and what it says about the state of our society. For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters' fields--a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn't matter to others? In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will. The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric. Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring--in death and in life."-- Provided by publisher.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction New 363.75 P947 Checked out 07/09/2024 33111011333404
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 363.75 P947 Available 33111011154099
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"A rare and compassionate look into the lives of Americans who go unclaimed when they die and those who dedicate their lives to burying them with dignity."-Matthew Desmond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Poverty, by America

"A work of grace . . . Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy."- The New York Times (Editors' Choice)

For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters' fields-a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn't matter to others?

In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will.

The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric.

Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring-in death and in life.

"An intimate, deeply moving investigation of an underreported phenomenon--the rising number of unclaimed dead in America today--and what it says about the state of our society. For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters' fields--a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn't matter to others? In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will. The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric. Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring--in death and in life."-- Provided by publisher.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 266-302) and index.

Prologue: Ashes -- Part 1. Alive -- New directions -- Aging in place -- My way -- Van life -- Part 2. Forgotten -- Gone -- Investigation -- County dispo -- Part 3. Remembered -- The dead don't vote -- A calling -- Steel and sassafras -- Standing in the gap -- Presente -- Epilogue: The kindness of clay -- Afterword: Memento mori.

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