"Transporting the reader to a place few have heard of, to examine the lives of people few will ever meet, Friends for Life, Friends for Death is an accessible account of day-to-day life and social construction in contemporary rural Africa."--BOOK JACKET.

A timeless and uplifting book about friendship, filled with humor and heart. When Jessica sits next to Francis on a bench during recess, he's surprised to learn that she isn't actually alive--she's a ghost. And she's surprised, too, because Francis is the first person who has been able to see her since she died. Before long, Francis and Jessica are best friends, enjoying life more than they ever have. When they meet two more friends who can also see Jessica, the question arises: What is it that they have in common? And does it have something to do with Jessica being a ghost?

An unparalleled study of patterns of child-bearing, marriage and death among a major religious grouping.

Pritchett (anthropology, African studies, Boston U.) presents an account of the Lunda- Ndembu people of northwestern Zambia. The text is based upon archaeological data, travel accounts, colonial field reports, and the scholarly studies of others, as well as his own field research conducted intermittently over the course of 14 years. He contends that despite much cultural borrowing in recent decades, the Lunda people have an image of themselves that is essentially unchanged. He also reflects on continuity and change in Africa. c. Book News Inc.

Drawing from The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a Buddhist teacher “provides [readers] with the essential guidepost for embarking on the journey of life and the journey beyond” (Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing) In Making Friends with Death, Buddhist teacher Judith Lief, who's drawn her inspiration from the Tibetan Book of the Dead, shows us that through the powerful combination of contemplation of death and mindfulness practice, we can change how we relate to death, enhance our appreciation of everyday life, and use our developing acceptance of our own vulnerability as a basis for opening to others. She also offers a series of guidelines to help us reconnect with dying persons, whether they are friends or family, clients or patients. Lief highlights the value of relating to the immediacy of death as an ongoing aspect of everyday life by offering readers a variety of practical methods that they can apply to their lives and work. These methods include: • Simple mindfulness exercises for deepening awareness of moment-by-moment change • Practices for cultivating loving-kindness • Helpful slogans and guidelines for caregivers to use Making Friends with Death will enlighten anyone interested in coming to terms with their own mortality. More specifically, the contemplative approach presented here offers health professionals, students of death and dying, and people who are helping a dying friend or relative useful guidance and inspiration. It will show them how to ground their actions in awareness and compassion, so that the steps they take in dealing with pain and suffering will be more effective.

A thoughtful guide to getting through the loss of a friend.

When her best friend is found dead, supposedly from a drug overdose, seventeen-year-old Susan suspects murder and determines to find out the truth.

If you're a dinosaur, all of your friends are dead. If you're a pirate, all of your friends have scurvy. If you're a tree, all of your friends are end tables. Each page of this laugh-out-loud illustrated humor book showcases the downside of being everything from a clown to a cassette tape to a zombie. Cute and dark all at once, this hilarious children's book for adults teaches valuable lessons about life while exploring each cartoon character's unique grievance and wide-eyed predicament. From the sock whose only friends have gone missing to the houseplant whose friends are being slowly killed by irresponsible plant owners (like you), All My Friends Are Dead presents a delightful primer for laughing at the inevitable.

Bringing together the voices of Francine Prose, Katie Roiphe, Dorothy Allison, Elizabeth Strout, and others, this title casts new light on the meaning and nature of women's friendships while illuminating the emotions evoked by the loss of a friend.

The blogger behind Confessions of a Funeral Director—what Time magazine called a "must read"—reflects on mortality and the powerful lessons death holds for every one of us in this compassionate and thoughtful spiritual memoir that combines the humor and insight of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes with the poignancy and brevity of When Breath Becomes Air. We are a people who deeply fear death. While humans are biologically wired to evade death for as long as possible, we have become too adept at hiding from it, vilifying it, and—when it can be avoided no longer—letting the professionals take over. Sixth-generation funeral director Caleb Wilde understands this reticence and fear. He had planned to get as far away from the family business as possible. He wanted to make a difference in the world, and how could he do that if all the people he worked with were . . . dead? Slowly, he discovered that caring for the deceased and their loved ones was making a difference—in other people’s lives to be sure, but it also seemed to be saving his own. A spirituality of death began to emerge as he observed: The family who lovingly dressed their deceased father for his burial The act of embalming a little girl that offered a gift back to her grieving family The nursing home that honored a woman’s life by standing in procession as her body was taken away The funeral that united a conflicted community Through stories like these, told with equal parts humor and poignancy, Wilde offers an intimate look into the business and a new perspective on living and dying