Dying and Dignity: The Meaning and Control of a Personal Death

A Child's Parent Dies: Studies in Childhood Bereavement,by Erna Furman, 316 pp, $15, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1974. In these two books concerned with death and dying, there are some similarities but also multiple differences. Krant, inDying and Dignity, approaches the subject with primary emphasis on the dying patient and the multiplicity of disciplines interacting or failing to interact with the patient. Because of this multidisciplinary approach, the book is broad in scope but limited in depth. Furman, inA Child's Parent Dies, focuses on a single discipline, psychoanalysis, in her study of the bereaved child. Such a singular concentration is productive of a well-ordered, cogent work. Despite such differences, one factor is common to both books, namely, the importance of recognizing and conveying the reality of death so that the integrity and growth of personality may be maintained. Dying and Dignityis written in essay form