The American Way of Death, Signed by Jessica Mitford
[Signed] Mitford, Jessica. The American Way of Death. First Edition. 1963. Book is in good condition; dust jacket is in very good minus condition—book shows a small water stain that affects the upper corners of approximately fourteen pages; there are tiny spots of foxing to the page edges; and jacket shows minor fraying to the spine ends and a few tiny edge tears. Tipped in to the flyleaf is a cartoon saluting Mitford and Rachel Carson with the text, “Never underestimate the power of a woman.”
This book runaway best seller from the early 1960s won Mitford no friends in the funeral industry. It did, however, make her a household name. In it, she comically vilified the unscrupulous undertakers who took advantage of the poor and bereaved. It embarrassed the funeral industry so badly that a cheap, no-frills casket known as a “Mitford” became all the rage.
“You may not be able to change the world, but at least you can embarrass the guilty.”
--Jessica Mitford