The Unclaimed

Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels

By: Pamela Prickett, Stefan Timmermans

Narrated by: Nan McNamara

“A rare and compassionate look into the lives of Americans who go unclaimed when they die and those who dedicate their lives to burying them with dignity.”—Matthew Desmond, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Poverty, by America

“A work of grace . . . Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

FINALIST FOR THE J. ANTHONY LUKAS BOOK PRIZE • ONE OF THE ATLANTIC’S TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • AN NPR AND BOOKPAGE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

For centuries, people who died destitute or alone were buried in potters’ fields—a Dickensian end that even the most hard-pressed families tried to avoid. Today, more and more relatives are abandoning their dead, leaving it to local governments to dispose of the bodies. Up to 150,000 Americans now go unclaimed each year. Who are they? Why are they being forgotten? And what is the meaning of life if your death doesn’t matter to others?

In this extraordinary work of narrative nonfiction, eight years in the making, sociologists Pamela Prickett and Stefan Timmermans uncover a hidden social world. They follow four individuals in Los Angeles, tracing the twisting, poignant paths that put each at risk of going unclaimed, and introducing us to the scene investigators, notification officers, and crematorium workers who care for them when no one else will.

The Unclaimed lays bare the difficult truth that anyone can be abandoned. It forces us to confront a variety of social ills, from the fracturing of families and the loneliness of cities to the toll of rising inequality. But it is also filled with unexpected moments of tenderness. In Boyle Heights, a Mexican American neighborhood not far from the glitter of Hollywood, hundreds of strangers come together each year to mourn the deaths of people they never knew. These ceremonies, springing up across the country, reaffirm our shared humanity and help mend our frayed social fabric.

Beautifully crafted and profoundly empathetic, The Unclaimed urges us to expand our circle of caring—in death and in life.

Humans are complex, in life and death

I read this book during the first days of the 2nd Trump presidency, which may have dimmed my hope. But this book, despite its seemingly downcast topic, uplifted me. It did so because of the care with which so many individuals tendered those “unclaimed” bodies and also the profound and deeply thoughtful care with which the authors explored and wrote about them and the larger unclaimed phenomenon. While clearly showing that our society needs to do better for our dead, this book also showed me that humans will still reach out and help those at greatest need. For that too is one of the ways we are complex, in life and death.

Sad but True

I appreciate the contents of this book. It’s important that even the unclaimed have a voice and those who care to know get some insight into the how and why. Heartbreaking and gut wrenching its truth of human life and nature is so many things. It’s a book everyone should read in hopes it would affect the faith of the unclaimed. I’m grateful to all who take on this task as a job. God bless them and all who go unclaimed and my the unclaimed rest in peace for those who tried to make it so.

Great topic. Loved all the discussion of this complex subject. I live in San Diego & went to the cemetery mentioned. So interesting.

Insightful and haunting

Interesting read into a world we didn’t know. Personally I enjoyed the cadence and style of a type of investigating journalism.

Fantastic

Engrossing account of a subject I barely knew existed. The author provides a well researched, compassionate look at end of life. As a nurse, I believe this is required reading.