Now Departing - by Victor M Sweeney (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Now Departing explores the science, craft, and mindfulness behind Victor M. Sweeney's very peculiar skill set. Working in the funeral business since he was eighteen years old, Sweeney astutely shares the powerful and moving lessons of how we can exist and be remembered with intention and meaning. Each page is filled with reflective observations and true stories from the lives and deaths that Sweeney has come to know through his work in a small Minnesota town. With grace and understanding, he also explores the rituals around preparing and saying goodbye to those we mourn; the love and forgiveness that arises in the face of grief; the universal interplay of walking between the chasm of the mundanity of a required business practice that touches on humanity's deepest metaphysical realities; and ultimately, how loss gives us the opportunity to focus on and celebrate the elements we have gained."--

Book Synopsis

In this unique and thoughtful collection, a young funeral director--also known as "the internet's favorite mortician" (CNBC)--explores various aspects of death, offering heartfelt and practical insights into how we determine what matters most while we are alive. This evocative book is for fans of Thomas Lynch, Mary Roach, and Caitlin Doughty.

Now Departing explores the science, craft, and mindfulness behind Victor M. Sweeney's very peculiar skill set. Working in the funeral business since he was eighteen years old, Sweeney astutely shares the powerful and moving lessons of how we can exist and be remembered with intention and meaning.

Each page is filled with reflective observations and true stories from the lives and deaths that Sweeney has come to know through his work in a small Minnesota town. With grace and understanding, he also explores the rituals around preparing and saying goodbye to those we mourn; the love and forgiveness that arises in the face of grief; the universal interplay of walking between the chasm of the mundanity of a required business practice that touches on humanity's deepest metaphysical realities; and ultimately, how loss gives us the opportunity to focus on and celebrate the elements we have gained.

Review Quotes

"[A] considered meditation on what it means to handle 'the bodies of the dead with enough grace to touch the souls of the living, ' ... and how to comfort the bereaved. Throughout, he centers the importance of making death comprehensible to communities and individuals...to appreciate life's ephemerality. The combination of musings on the place of death in modern society and quirky anecdotes of small-town Minnesota life makes for a surprisingly cozy look at what it means to meet the end." --Publishers Weekly

"A mortician from small-town Minnesota would certainly make for an unlikely social media star, but Sweeney has garnered a large online following for his videos digging into what his job entails, all while dropping some deep truths about life and death along the way. In Now Departing, Sweeney expands not only on the everyday elements of being a mortician, but also presents a unique and unpretentious wisdom that comes with seeing death and its trappings every day. As a young husband, father, and de facto community leader, Sweeney communicates with heart and humor as he finds not only his vocation, but also his voice. Sweeney, who grew up wanting to be a priest, has a grounded writing style that readers, regardless of religious conviction, will find simultaneously comforting and rousing. While the details about embalming, burial planning, and the daily routine of running of a funeral home would make for an enlightening read on their own, it is the tender, homespun wisdom that Sweeney imparts along the way that will surely linger." --Booklist

About the Author

Victor M. Sweeney is a licensed mortician and funeral director in rural Minnesota. His videos produced by WIRED have been seen by millions on YouTube, all while he carries on his day job, raises a handful of children with his wife, and gets the dead from Point A to Point B. Follow him on Instagram @Victor.M.Sweeney.