Encyclopedia of Death and Dying
A long list of respected contributors, predominantly from  Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, here  provide rich and fascinating articles on all aspects of death  and dying. Arranged alphabetically by subject, each entry is  signed and includes references and suggestions for further  reading. There is some overlap with the Encyclopedia of Death,  edited by Robert and Beatrice Kastenbaum (1989. o.p.), but the  two works are different enough to warrant the inclusion of both  titles in one's collection. Although this encyclopedia does not  list as many journals and organizations as the Kastenbaum work,  it does contain more material (it is over 200 pages longer),  including articles about current issues, biographies of notable  people in the field, and a large selected bibliography. The  inclusion of unusual subjects, such as "Death by Chocolate,"  "Pets," and "Sport," help to broaden the traditional approaches  to this field. In some areas, cross-referencing appears  inadequate, and, for the sake of clarity, some entries (e.g.,  "Palliative Care" and "Health Promoting Palliative Care") should  have been combined. Shortcomings aside, this work will enrich  all academic and public library collections. Other, more  narrowly focused encyclopedias of this genre include Richard P.  Taylor's Death and the Afterlife: A Cultural Encyclopedia (LJ  1/01) and James R. Lewis's Encyclopedia of Afterlife Beliefs and  Phenomena (Gale, 1994). Annette Haines, Central Michigan Univ.  Libs., Mount PleasantCopyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.