Good Mourning

Elizabeth Meyer

Aug 2015 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Elizabeth Meyer’s “sweet, touching, and funny” (Booklist) memoir reads as if “Carrie Bradshaw worked in a funeral home a la Six Feet Under” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).

Good Mourning offers a behind-the-scenes look at a legendary funeral chapel on New York City’s Upper East Side—mixing big money, society drama, and the universal experience of grieving—told from the unique perspective of a fashionista turned funeral planner.

Elizabeth Meyer stumbled upon a career in the midst of planning her own father’s funeral, which she turned into an upbeat party with Rolling Stones music, thousands of dollars worth of her mother’s favorite flowers, and a personalized eulogy. Starting as a receptionist, Meyer quickly found she had a knack for helping people cope with their grief, as well as creating fitting send-offs for some of the city’s most high-powered residents.

Meyer has seen it all: two women who found out their deceased husband (yes, singular) was living a double life, a famous corpse with a missing brain, and funerals that cost more than most weddings. By turns illuminating, emotional, and darkly humorous, Good Mourning is a lesson in how the human heart grieves and grows—whether you’re wearing this season’s couture or drug-store flip-flops.

Ratings and reviews

When I opened this book I was not sure what I would find inside. Was I going to cry for the next few days or was just sadness waiting in the pages? I was wonderfully surprised at the content; witty, clever, humorous, yes, sad at times, eye-opening, irreverent, and tongue in check with quite a different formula for funerals that I found I quite liked. In the Southern Bible Belt a funeral is almost a religious experience; Ms. Meyers ideas of the send off were so different from we have, I found myself saying, yes, why not! What a wonderful idea to have all the things that person loved and valued placed at the funeral. I found this a wonderful idea. The portrayals of the ultra rich as pampered, spoiled, selfish, royalty were educational as I did not realize the rich expected so much to be done for and given to them as a course of life, a product of their privileges. As Ms. Meyers says in this book, death is the one thing that unites all of us, rich or poor. I enjoyed this book from the first paragraph to last sentence as Ms. Meyers and Ms Moscatello entertained and kept my interest as they documented Ms. Meyers travels from an ultra rich privileged spoiled party planning young woman grieving for her father to a savvy, professional, successive, business woman with a knack for fulfilling the humane need at the time of grief in her own unique way; I learned more about the mortuary business than I hope I will ever need to know. I will admit I have often wondered how they did this or that, and Ms. Meyers answered those questions and more in a most entertaining way. I think I fell a little into envy with Bill, the ultimate surgeon, beautician, makeup artist, and all on dead bodies. I hope the person that does me up is as talented as Bill. From the hilarity of missing brains, mourning the Cardinal, mob funerals, friends dying of OD’s, Ms. Meyers seeing spirits, inter-office bickering and jealousy at the premier Crawford Mortuary, or Ms. Meyers just helping someone thru the death of their loved one with genuine caring, the book is a gem! I am so glad I did not pass up this book. I would give this book 5 stars. Thank you Ms. Meyers and Ms. Moscatello for this entertaining and informative book. I loved reading every word, and I want my funeral to be a party/celebration. In the South we have a saying, “when someone’s dies, we immediately have the frying pan in one hand and the chicken in the other,”, I am going to ask for them to grab guitars, banjo’s, and BBQ grills, let’s have a party. I received this book from the publisher and Netgalley in return for an honest opinion.

I found this book to be interesting and quite enjoyable!!!

About the author

After working at an elite funeral home in New York City, Elizabeth Meyer became passionate about making death a less taboo and scary topic. She holds a bachelor of arts from New York University’s Gallatin School, an MBA from Cass Business School in London, a certification in thanatology from the Association for Death Education and Counseling, and is a licensed funeral director. Elizabeth regularly contributes to news articles, speaks on nationally syndicated radio programs, and has given guest lectures about death and dying. Currently, she advises private clients and consults for a website that deals with end-of-life issues. Elizabeth was raised and currently resides in New York City.