The Loved One
by Evelyn Waugh

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Book Summary Information

• ISBN13: 9780316926089
• Condition: New
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Book Reviews of The Loved One

Book Review: A Little Dream-Noir
Summary: 4 Stars

Waugh also takes several good cuts at the vacuity of American life as exemplified by the heartless film industry and the garish tackiness of the Whispering Glades cemetery (complete with piped in sounds of nature)--a place of rest found enduringly beautiful by Barlow's love interest Aimee Thanatogenos. This mortuary cosmetician's name translates roughly as `The Loved One, who gives Life to Death. No need for subtlety here as far as Waugh is concerned--this is Tinseltown, after all. More fun names: the virtuoso mortician also in love with Aimee is "Joyboy" and the advice columnist at the local paper who replies to her several entreaties is "Mr. Slump."

The characters don't offer much to redeem themselves, but that's the point, and Waugh doesn't waste any pages getting it across. Whether you have gone through the process of making funeral arrangements or not, THE LOVED ONE will prepare you for the sales pitch of "Before Need Arrangements" and various other details you weren't crazy about knowing but that are dealt with in such a funny, hyperbolized way here by Waugh. "A Warning" recommends that "squeamish [readers] should return their copies to the library or bookstore unread." What a silly thing to do that would be.

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