The Unclaimed
Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
“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)
FINALIST 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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sociologists Pickett (Believing in South Central) and Timmermans (Postmortem) offer a compassionate if somewhat shortsighted account of Los Angeles County's "unclaimed dead." Investigating the bureaucratic process triggered by death, the authors argue that it is mainly "deep estrangement" from family that leads to remains going unclaimed. Among other such cases, they profile David Spencer, a U.S. Navy veteran who died in 2017. His most closely related family, with whom he had not been in contact for nearly two decades, were told they had to pay out of pocket to transfer David's body to a funeral home (the legal threshold of "claiming") before they could process his estate or petition for a free military burial. They declined, and David was buried by the county, his funeral paid for from his savings. His relatives didn't attend the service but inherited the rest of his estate, which a county bureaucrat interprets as a sign of their callous indifference, discounting their claims of poverty and disability. The authors unsatisfyingly conclude in tacit agreement with this perspective, advising readers to keep in touch with family to avoid an "unclaimed" fate ("We hope that you are not estranged from loved ones.... Make sure your loved ones know you care"), rather than highlighting needed reforms of a dysfunctional government process. It's a moving slice of life with a dispiriting takeaway.
