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  1. The New York Times CompanyN. R. KLEINFIELD10/17/1543 min
    5 reads4 comments
    10
    The New York Times Company
    5 reads
    10
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    • Pegeen
      Top reader this weekReading streakScoutScribe
      4 years ago

      There are so many layers to this story, the top being isolation, loneliness, apathy. Underneath, the organized process of gathering the information about a deceased person’s next of kin - the lawyers, investigators, cleaning crews, auctioneers, burial rites - “death is business.” I was struck by the compassion of the investigators, the undertaker. The Community Tree, with names etched on it’s leaves and Doves, was a bright image in this otherwise dark, sad journey of a man left to rot on his apartment floor because he chose, for his own mysterious reasons, to no longer answer his phone or door.

      • bill
        Top reader of all time
        4 years ago

        Yup. Upvote.

    • jeff4 years ago

      Fascinating look into one man's life and death and what happens afterwards when there is no next of kin. Wish I could give this an 11.

      • bill
        Top reader of all time
        4 years ago

        Oh my god. That took me three sittings, starting last night. But oh my god. So many great characters. Started hot and got hotter and hotter. Wild stuff. Prufrock-ish.