Join a book club that is reading The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels!
The Unclaimed: Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels
“A rare and compassionate look into the lives of Americans who go unclaimed when they die and those who dedicate their lives to burying them with dignity.”—Matthew Desmond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Poverty, by America
“A work of grace . . . Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)
SHORTLISTED FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE • ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • AN NPR AND BOOKPAGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters’ fields—a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn’t matter to others?
In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will.
The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric.
Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring—in death and in life.
“A work of grace . . . Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)
SHORTLISTED FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE • ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • AN NPR AND BOOKPAGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters’ fields—a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn’t matter to others?
In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will.
The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric.
Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring—in death and in life.
BUY THE BOOK
Community Reviews
“The idea that we are truly dead when we no longer exist in anyone’s memory has its roots in many cultures and time periods….Forgetting is inevitable, as descendants pass and physical markers fade. Over centuries, some notable lives remain etched in our memories, though their ranks dwindle as time passes. Many others are recalled for a shorter time—years, decades, a lifetime or two. But what of those who are spoken of a final time mere moments after they leave the earth—or worse, before they even die?”
While this book wasn’t what I was expecting, it was still very interesting and informative. The Unclaimed focuses on the lives of four individuals who ended up going unclaimed and sent to a mass burial. We learn about their lives, their deaths, and how they went unclaimed, even when there were people who wanted to claim them. Along the way, it covers a lot of different facts about death, funerals, and the rising rates of unclaimed dead.
“The uncomfortable truth is that the unclaimed are not marginal outliers. All signs suggest that their numbers will continue to rise if nothing changes, and those at risk already dwell among”
When I started this book I didn’t realize it focused mainly on four specific people who went unclaimed and their lives. While it was a surprise, it ended up being really interesting and informative on how easily someone could become part of the unclaimed. I also enjoyed that we also learned about a lot of programs that are trying to help provide proper funerals for the unclaimed, especially the unclaimed babies.
The Unclaimed changed my view on funerals and cremation because I never really thought about the people who die but don’t get claimed. I never realized that if a body wasn’t claimed then the city would cremate the remains and bury them in a mass burial after so many years. This also happens with people who are claimed but can’t afford the fee to pick up the remains, which I didn’t know was a thing. This book just really challenged my view on how our current funeral system is set up, and how easy it is for people to end up part of the unclaimed.
“ ….the unclaimed remind us that unless every body counts, nobody counts.”
Overall, this was a very informative book that will change your views on the funeral industry. It also further pushes the importance of having a plan in place for your body and setting it up as soon as possible, because you never know when you will die or if you will have someone there to claim you.
TW: death; poverty; homelessness; child death; grief; abandonment and estrangement from family;
Impactful Quotes;
“The unclaimed raise pressing existential questions: If you die and no one mourns you, did your life have meaning? If a common grave can now be the final destination for anyone, rich or poor, what does that say about us? What does it say about America?”
“Families came by to pick up ashes in only about one of every six cases. The overwhelming majority of those cremated by the county —more than 82 percent—remained unclaimed.”
“If denying families a burial causes deep personal pain, denying a funeral to those without family exacts its own social cost. When we dispose of the unclaimed out of the public eye, locate their gravesites in inaccessible areas, or either fail or refuse to mark a mass burial with a ceremony—the default in most cities in the United States—we erase these deaths and lives and the vital lessons they offer. It doesn’t matter whether we forget intentionally or not. Hiding the unclaimed is a way of hiding who we are—and prevents us from reckoning with what we need to do to become better.”
See why thousands of readers are using Bookclubs to stay connected.