{"title":"Tom Jokinen","description":"\u003cp\u003eExplore the intriguing and insightful works of \u003cstrong\u003eTom Jokinen\u003c\/strong\u003e, a Canadian author known for his unique exploration of life’s most inevitable journey — death. With a background in broadcasting, Jokinen brings a finely honed sense of storytelling to his writing, marrying wit and wisdom with empathetic insight.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eTom Jokinen’s collection includes engaging titles like \u003cem\u003eCurtains: Adventures of an Undertaker in Training\u003c\/em\u003e, where he takes readers on a fascinating journey into the funeral industry. Through humour and keen observation, Jokinen educates while entertaining, shedding light on the customs and intricacies of funerary practices around the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThese books are perfect for readers interested in \u003cem\u003eEducation \u0026amp; Reference\u003c\/em\u003e, offering a rare glimpse into the often overlooked, yet universally experienced rites associated with the end of life. Discover a distinctive perspective on life’s ultimate certainty and indulge in stories that are both enlightening and thought-provoking.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"curtains-adventures-of-an-undertaker-in-training-by-tom-jokinen-9780702238512","title":"Curtains: Adventures of an undertaker in training","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt 44, Tom Jokinen quit a good government job to work at a family-run funeral home and crematorium as a trainee undertaker. This drastic vocational change gave him an amazing opportunity to explore, first-hand, our culture's relationship with the dead, dying, and left behind.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eIn a modern society where religion has lost its grip on rituals of transition, the funeral trade is fighting to find ways to make its work relevant to a new, secular, consumer culture, and positioning itself for its biggest potential wave of income ever: the death of the baby boomers.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eCurtains\u003c\/em\u003e is a hair-raising and hilarious account of Jokinen's adventures. Outside of his work, which includes embalming, dressing bodies and cleaning corpses down to their fingernails, Jokinen attends a funeral trade show in Las Vegas and visits Los Angeles and San Francisco, the meccas of the new funeral customs and eco-friendly or 'green' burials: no casket, no embalming chemicals, but straight into the ground, in a forest, to let nature unfold.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSome of the new customs approach circus absurdity, but all raise the key issue of 'what is the appropriate response to death?' Enlightening, funny and full of life in the midst of death, \u003cem\u003eCurtains\u003c\/em\u003e lifts the veil on the death and funeral industry in the 21st century.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Penguin Random House NZ","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46354682282220,"sku":"9780702238512","price":36.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/29103482438.jpg?v=1744286067"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.live\/collections\/tom-jokinen.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}