Greg Melville has worked as an outdoor journalist and editor at Men’s Journal and Hearst magazines. He has strong connections with magazines and newspapers, and his writing has appeared in Outside, National Geographic Traveler, Men’s Health, and the Boston Globe Magazine. His work was also listed in The Best American Sportswriting 2017. He is a decorated veteran who served in Afghanistan and is in the Navy Reserve, where he is a public affairs officer with the rank of lieutenant commander. He has taught English and writing at the United States Naval Academy, where he was given the school’s Instructor of the Year Award in 2019, and journalism at St. Michael’s College in Vermont. He lives with his wife and two kids in Delaware.
“Astonishing. . . fascinating . . . powerful . . .Focusing on these
particular physical places enables Melville to change how we think
about the past, making it a more complete and honest telling . . .
This clever, sensitive book gives us a new way to think about
death, not as the final chapter, but as a window onto life in
America.”
*New York Times Book Review*
“[A] fascinating examination of how we treat, and mistreat, our
dead . . . Melville has researched, reported and written a powerful
book that not only summons us to embrace equitable treatment of all
Americans in death but also in life.”
*Associated Press*
“Entertaining and illuminating . . . Melville’s wry humor enlivens
discussions of arcane yet intriguing historical figures and
archaeological discoveries. This colorful study fascinates.”
*Publishers Weekly*
“It is this same appreciation for the dead, as well as for history,
that drives journalist Greg Melville as he explores America’s
cemeteries in Over My Dead Body . . . all with a perfect balance of
geeky joy, deep reverence and a meticulous knack for research.
Melville’s prose is pure pleasure mixed with wry asides, but even
among his most amusing anecdotes, he never loses sight of the
gravity that still vibrates through the stories of the dead."
*Bookpage*
“You hold in your hands a treasure map, a gentle, sly, and poignant
presence leading us to places in America and in our lives that have
been hiding in plain sight. This tale is about cemeteries, but it’s
really about how beautiful is life. We go forward living well by
being aware how and where life ends up, so to speak—that’s the
amazing, enlightening journey of this book. If you love Ian
Frazier, Bill Bryson, or Caroline Alexander, this one’s for
you.”
*DOUG STANTON, #1 New York Times bestselling author of 12
Strong*
“Melville is an ideal guide, carrying a revealing lantern into both
beautiful and disturbing corners of the nation’s undervalued
graveyards. At the end of a glorious excursion, he leaves you with
a deep appreciation of the rich heritage sleeping just under
Americans’ feet. Captivating.”
*DR. LINDSEY FITZHARRIS, New York Times bestselling author of The
Facemaker*
“Greg Melville is a graveyard connoisseur. In Over My Dead Body, he
drags his wry wife and patient kids through rural cemeteries,
garden burial grounds, and locked churchyards—not to mention bone
vaults and the continent’s busiest city park—while he strips away
myths and unearths buried sins, exploring cycles of fashion and
need in the American history of mourning.”
*JUDY MELINEK & T.J. MITCHELL, New York Times bestselling authors
of Working Stiff, First Cut, and Aftershock*
“If every graveyard is a library of compact life stories, this
essential book is the grand, sweeping history of American burials:
their humble beginnings, surprising (and often controversial)
heyday, and questionable future. Greg Melville comes to the subject
firsthand and writes with infectious enthusiasm, deep respect, and
a healthy dose of wit. You'll dig it.”
*MARK ADAMS, New York Times bestselling author of Turn Right at
Machu Picchu*
“Witty, warm, and bristling with fascinating history and firsthand
details, this book about the places where our bodies return to the
earth is essential—no, vital—reading.”
*ROBERT MOOR, New York Times bestselling author of On Trails: An
Exploration*
“Greg Melville has written a wonderful book about a fascinating
piece of Americana that has, for too long, needed a disinterment.
Over My Dead Body is, at various times, haunting, thoughtful, and
laugh-out-loud hilarious, and is so chock-full of informative ‘who
knew?’ moments that the pages almost seem to turn themselves.”
*MONTE BURKE, New York Times bestselling author of Saban and Lords
of the Fly*
This revelatory book about the places we bury our dead brims with
life–from body snatchers to racist policies, religious rituals to
digital immortalization. I couldn't put it down.
*ALLISON HOOVER BARTLETT, author of The Man Who Loved Books Too
Much: The True Story of a Thief, a Detective, and a World of
Literary Obsession*
“Author Greg Melville is a great tour-guide as he takes readers on
a wide-eyed journey through history of both America and American
death. Each of the cemeteries he profiles in his book is different
and remarkable, borderline creepy, not gruesome but unusual enough
to hold your interest as Melville explains why he chose each
cemetery to study before he takes a few side-paths . . .”
*Goshen News*
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