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    Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries
    Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries
    Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries
    Audiobook8 hours

    Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries

    Written by Greg Melville

    Narrated by Will Tulin

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A lively tour through the history of US cemeteries that explores how, where, and why we bury our dead

    The summer before his senior year in college, Greg Melville worked at the cemetery in his hometown, and thanks to hour upon hour of pushing a mower over the grassy acres, he came to realize what a rich story the place told of his town and its history. Thus was born Melville’s lifelong curiosity with how, where, and why we bury and commemorate our dead.


    Melville’s Over My Dead Body is a lively (pun intended) and wide-ranging history of cemeteries, places that have mirrored the passing eras in history but have also shaped it. Cemeteries have given birth to landscape architecture and famous parks, as well as influenced architectural styles. They’ve inspired and motivated some of our greatest poets and authors—Emerson, Whitman, Dickinson. They’ve been used as political tools to shift the country’s discourse and as important symbols of the United States' ambition and reach.


    But they are changing and fading. Embalming and burial is incredibly toxic, and while cremations have just recently surpassed burials in popularity, they’re not great for the environment either. Over My Dead Body explores everything—history, sustainability, land use, and more—and what it really means to memorialize.


    Locales visited in Over My Dead Body

    Shawsheen Cemetery – Bedford, Massachusetts

    The 1607 Burial Ground – Historic Jamestowne, Virginia

    Burial Hill – Plymouth, Massachusetts

    Colonial Jewish Burial Ground – Newport, Rhode Island

    Monticello’s African American Graveyard – Charlottesville, Virginia

    Mount Auburn Cemetery – Cambridge, Massachusetts

    Green-Wood Cemetery – Brooklyn, New York

    Laurel Grove Cemetery – Savannah, Georgia

    Sleepy Hollow Cemetery – Concord, Massachusetts

    Central Park – New York, New York

    and Many More!

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSpotify Audiobooks
    Release dateOct 4, 2022
    ISBN9781667074207
    Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of American Cemeteries

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    Reviews for Over My Dead Body

    4.5/5

    59 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Thought provoking. I found his style very easy to listen to and the research compelling without sinking into didactic dialogue.
    • 5/5
      This book had great flow with a touch of humour. The author knew just how to keep me wanting it never to end. A great read.
    • 5/5
      I suppose a book like this appeals to a niche audience, and I'm a member. I enjoyed traveling with the author to various cemeteries, older and newer, and particularly enjoyed the later chapters on cremation and natural cemeteries. A good starting point for long-overdue family conversations. The narrator also did an excellent job.
    • 5/5
      I found this very interesting and lots of interesting things.