Hayley Campbell is an author, broadcaster, and journalist. Her work has appeared in WIRED, The Guardian, New Statesman, Empire, GQ, and more. Her books include All the Living and the Dead and The Art of Neil Gaiman. She lives in London with her cat, Ned.
"Campbell is a gorgeous writer, capturing the exquisite pathos and
gallows humor found in folks who spend their lives working with the
dead. Anyone who has ever considered death work will devour this
book." --Caitlin Doughty, New York Times bestselling author of
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes "How should we live, when death is always
with us? All the Living and the Dead is a book about death, and how
to stop pretending about it. Hayley Campbell is working out a
philosophy of death by getting close to it; holding it; asking
interesting questions of people who spend their lives dealing with
it. This is an essential, compassionate, honest examination of how
we deal with death, and how it changes the living." --Audrey
Niffenegger, New York Times bestselling author of The Time
Traveler's Wife "This book is moving, funny, and liable to
unexpectedly cause me to tear up. It's about the head and the heart
of death, about who we are, and is filled with images and moments
that will remain in my head until the end. A gentle book and, like
death itself, an unexpectedly kind one." --Neil Gaiman, New York
Times bestselling author of Good Omens and Coraline
"Ms. Campbell's book is more than a written narrative, it is a map
across uneven and untraveled land. It's [Campbell's] raw, unguarded
honesty that takes her book beyond many others of similar subject.
At times humorous and always informative, humanity sets All the
Living and the Dead apart." --Wall Street Journal "Campbell
describes the mechanics of these jobs in comprehensive detail and
with a measured levity that keeps the dour stench of death from
overwhelming the pages . . . Her thesis holds true as rising death
tolls fade into normalcy and the living forge on with a new
numbness: 'Death is everywhere, but it's veiled, or it's fiction.'"
--The New York Times
"Going beyond the gravedigger and the embalmer, [Campbell]
approaches her subjects with kindness and humor, highlighting an
industry that will always be in demand. Reading this book because
the hidden world of death workers is fascinating is reason enough,
but one may find in reading it . . . that attending to death
deepens one's understanding of its mystery and, by extension, the
mystery of life." --Los Angeles Review of Books "Hayley Campbell is
one of Death World's most important voices. Her compassion for the
living and the dead stands out . . . All the Living and the Dead is
an extremely important book for anyone interested in what happens
to a person after they die. Everyone should read it in order to
appreciate the respect all the invisible workers tasked with
handling the dead demonstrate everyday and which the text captures
so well." --Dr. John Troyer, Director of the Centre for Death and
Society at the University of Bath "An intriguing, candid, and
frequently poignant book that asks what the business of death can
teach all of us in the midst of life. Readers will form a
connection with Campbell's voice as intimate as her own
relationship with mortality." --Lindsey Fitzharris, bestselling
author of The Butchering Art "A compassionate and compelling book.
Fascinating and devastating in equal measure." --Charlie Gilmour,
author of Featherhood
"Provocative, loving, and profound." --Helen Rumbelow, The Times
"Gripping . . . Campbell is a sharp and witty observer who
successfully conveys her own fascination with the subject. A vivid
and open-minded look at a taboo topic." --Publishers Weekly "A
careful, moving investigation of existential matters told with a
keen literary sense and memorable personal insights . . . a
remarkable book." --Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"Campbell's genuine curiosity, careful reporting, and insightful
commentary make for an engrossing read. Readers will appreciate
both her meticulous reporting and her marked compassion."
--Booklist (starred) "All the Living and the Dead shines a light on
those with a tenderness for death, and Campbell is an equally
entertaining and sensitive guide to these interesting people and
their grisly but indispensable jobs." --Bookpage (starred)
"Campbell's immersion in death is free of trauma . . . startling
and affecting, candid, compassionate." --London Review of Books
"Campbell weaves judicious reflections on the philosophy and
history of the death industry into the reportage . . . Never
macabre . . . poignant, transformative." --Financial Times
"Eye-opening . . . A book about corpses might seem like a downer.
But All the Living and the Dead is surprisingly cheerful, even
life-affirming. This is partly thanks to Campbell's open-hearted,
observant style of writing, which manages to be vivid without
sensationalizing the horrors she records." --Times Literary
Supplement
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