Books: Death, American Plan

THE HISTORY OF AMERICAN FUNERAL DIRECTING (636 pp.)—Robert W. Habenstein & William M. Lamers—Bulfin Printers ($5).

Death on the American Plan is practiced in a temple of make-believe known as the Funeral Home. The shrine is constructed, as often as possible, along the lines of a country club and rectory combined. Outside, there are gracious plantings of evergreens—designed to "create favorable public sentiment." Inside, there is a sumptuous succession of music rooms, chapels, lavatories, storerooms, and, of course, "slumber rooms." The decoration is "subdued but cheerful," which enables many funeral homes, when their business is lagging, to rent space to wedding...