After winning international acclaim with his first novel, the Man Booker-nominated Hystopia, David Means returns to the form that made his name in Instructions for a Funeral, a collection of fourteen masterful stories that run the gamut from the playful to the personal. 'The Terminal Artist,' originally published in Vice, skirts reportage in grappling with the revelation that the death of a hospitalized loved one was in fact a murder; 'The Tree Line, Kansas, 1934,' from the New Yorker, is a wry anatomy of the moments before an FBI raid goes spectacularly wrong; while 'The Chair,' from The Paris Review, gives us a clear-eyed look at fatherhood, with all its paradoxes, recriminations, and rewards gloriously intact. Means's work has earned him comparisons to Flannery O'Connor, Hemingway, Sherwood Anderson, Denis Johnson, Poe, Chekhov, and Carver - but his place in the American literary landscape is fully and originally his own.

Annie Freeman, left one final request, a traveling funeral, and she wants the most important women in her life as pallbearers. From Sonoma to Manhattan, Katherine, Laura, Rebecca, Jill, and Marie will carry Annie's ashes to the special places in her life. At every stop there's a surprise encounter and a small miracle waiting, and as they whoop it up across the country, attracting interest wherever they go, they share their deepest secrets--tales of broken hearts and second chances, missed opportunities and new beginnings. And as they grieve over what they've lost, they discover how much is still possible if only they can unravel the secret Annie left them.

More and more people are considering a career in nursing or healthcare, but the thought of undertaking an academic degree at university can be intimidating. Whether you are moving straight from school or college or have been away from education for some time, Getting Ready for your Nursing Degree is essential preparation for anyone considering becoming or about to become a nursing student. It looks at all aspects of university work in a straightforward way and provides advice, examples and activities designed to help you get the most out of classes, research and assessments, from your first lecture right through to sitting exams and learning on placement. Designed with nursing students in mind, this small but perfectly formed guide is tailored to help you develop the skills you will need not only for your course but for your career and lifelong learning as a registered healthcare practitioner.

This book presents an opportunity for you to make informed preparations for death that are guided by your knowledge and faith. This book includes information about living wills, durable powers of attorney for health care and for financial management, and wills. You will also find consumer information regarding funerals, burial and cremation, and an outline of the church's funeral rite. On the pages provided, individuals can record their wishes and preparations that have been made. A great basis for parish-wide workshops during the month of November.

The Party of Your Life is a lively, irreverent guide to putting the F-U-N back in funeral. This upbeat book will appeal to adults of all ages who want a send-off that reflects their interests, achievements, and taste. The Party of Your Life will help readers explore the full range of creative, culinary, musical, and theatrical possibilities of a well-planned (i.e., self-planned) end-of-life party. Baby Boomers, Gen-Xers, and younger generations not interested in having a traditional funeral will appreciate author Erika Dillman’s hip and humorous approach to planning your own funeral. Topics covered in the book include: It Takes a Village: Your Funeral Posse Who’s Hot, Who’s Not: Planning Your Guest List Menus, Massage, and Mojitos: Care and Feeding of Guests Dance This Mess Around: Your Funeral Soundtrack Bye-Bye Bling: Your Funeral Gift Bags With the help of The Party of Your Life, the newly dead will rest in peace knowing the tips in the book have helped reduce the drama and strain on their survivors, who are likely experiencing the most painful time of their lives.

With gentle humor and quirkiness, this sympathetic book demonstrates how to say goodbye to a beloved pet and give it a proper sendoff. “[The End of Something Wonderful is] really good. It’s funny and sardonic and it gets to be touching at the end.” —Betsy Bird, School Library Journal Children love their pets very much—and when the animals die, that loss can be hard to process. The End of Something Wonderful helps kids handle their feelings when they’re hurting and can’t find all the right words. In a warm, understanding, sometimes funny way, it guides children as they plan a backyard funeral to say goodbye, from choosing a box and a burial spot to giving a eulogy and wiping away tears. Most of all, it reassures them that it’s not the end of everything . . . and that Something Wonderful can always happen again.

At the bitter end of the 1960s, after surviving multiple assassination attempts, President John F. Kennedy has created a vast federal agency, the Psych Corps, dedicated to maintaining the nation's mental hygiene by any means necessary. Soldiers returning from Vietnam have their battlefield traumas "enfolded"-wiped from their memories through drugs and therapy-while veterans too damaged to be enfolded roam at will in Michigan, evading the Psych Corps and reenacting atrocities on civilians. This destabilized, alternate version of American history is the vision of the twenty-two-year-old veteran Eugene Allen, who has returned from Vietnam to write the book at the center of Hystopia, the long-awaited first novel by David Means. In Hystopia, Means brings his full talent to bear on the crazy reality of trauma, both national and personal. Outlandish and tender, funny and violent, timely and historical, Hystopia invites us to consider whether our traumas can ever be truly overcome. The answers it offers are wildly inventive, deeply rooted in its characters, and wrung from the author's own heart.

The Bottom Drawer Book is your after death action plan. Your ideas, plans, and your life's reflections will sit quietly in its pages until they're needed. Then, when you go, there'll be no family squabbling over how much to spend on your casket, who'll tell stories at your funeral, and which songs to play. The notes you make in The Bottom Drawer Book will give your loved ones the opportunity to grieve and celebrate the real you and your honest story.

A simple, stress-free approach to writing and conducting a memorial service Readers are given all the information needed to create and officiate a beautifully personalized funeral or memorial service, including: * A description of the order of service * A checklist and instructions for writing a eulogy * A large collection of spiritual and non-spiritual wording examples * Instructions for how to interview the family * Guidance on how to handle special circumstances * Several sample memorial services * Ideas for including extra personal touches * Guidance for understanding grief * Ideas for following up after the service