
The Unclaimed
Abandonment and Hope in the City of Angels
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Narrated by:
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Nan McNamara
About this listen
“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.
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Critic reviews
“A work of grace . . . Both cleareyed and disturbing, yet pulsing with empathy.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Trust me that you’ll be captivated by this book about death. The Unclaimed tells remarkably vivid, intimate stories about four people in Los Angeles whose bodies went unclaimed after they died. . . . This lyrical and moving book raises profound questions about what we owe our family, our neighbors, and our fellow citizens.”—NPR
“A deeply compelling, utterly original account of all those whose bodies lie unclaimed in a Los Angeles morgue . . . [The Unclaimed] is a book that speaks to the power of narrative. Hearing stories makes us feel less alone. Hearing stories pushes us to ask hard questions of ourselves. This book has landed at just the right moment. . . . I didn’t expect to come away feeling so sanguine about humanity.”—The Atlantic
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Story
On bookshelves around the world, surrounded by ordinary books bound in paper and leather, rest other volumes of a distinctly strange and grisly sort: those bound in human skin. Would you know one if you held it in your hand? In Dark Archives, Megan Rosenbloom seeks out the historic and scientific truths behind anthropodermic bibliopegy - the practice of binding books in this most intimate covering.
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Fascinating
- By Abbey Pflegl on 11-21-21
By: Megan Rosenbloom
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All the Living and the Dead
- From Embalmers to Executioners, an Exploration of the People Who Have Made Death Their Life's Work
- By: Hayley Campbell
- Narrated by: Hayley Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
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Fueled by a childhood fascination with death, journalist Hayley Campbell searches for answers in the people who make a living by working with the dead. Along the way, she encounters mass fatality investigators, embalmers, and a former executioner who is responsible for ending sixty-two lives. She meets gravediggers who have already dug their own graves, visits a cryonics facility in Michigan, goes for late-night Chinese with a homicide detective, and questions a man whose job it is to make crime scenes disappear.
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Excellent
- By Noelle on 09-01-22
By: Hayley Campbell
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Lay Them to Rest
- On the Road with the Cold Case Investigators Who Identify the Nameless
- By: Laurah Norton
- Narrated by: Laurah Norton
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Fans of true crime shows like CSI, NCIS, Criminal Minds, and Law and Order know that when it comes to “getting the bad guy” behind bars, your best chance of success boils down to the strength of your evidence—and the forensic science used to obtain it. Beyond the silver screen, forensic science has been used for decades to help solve even the most tough-to-crack cases.
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Enjoyable author, but not my style
- By Anonymous User on 11-21-23
By: Laurah Norton
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Tremors in the Blood
- Murder, Obsession, and the Birth of the Lie Detector
- By: Amit Katwala
- Narrated by: Paul Bellantoni
- Length: 10 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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As new forms of lie detection gain momentum in the present day, Tremors in the Blood reveals the incredible truth behind the creation of the polygraph, through gripping true-crime cases featuring explosive gunfights, shocking twists, and high-stakes courtroom drama. Touching on psychology, technology, and the science of the truth, Tremors in the Blood is a vibrant, atmospheric thriller and a warning from history: beware what you believe.
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Incredible Book
- By Christine on 01-04-24
By: Amit Katwala
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Briefly Perfectly Human
- Making an Authentic Life by Getting Real About the End
- By: Alua Arthur
- Narrated by: Alua Arthur
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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For her clients and everyone who has been inspired by her humanity, Alua Arthur is a friend at the end of the world. As our country’s leading death doula, she’s spreading a transformative message: thinking about your death—whether imminent or not—will breathe wild, new potential into your life.
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Not So Much About Death
- By Peter H Adams on 04-28-24
By: Alua Arthur
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Trail of the Lost
- The Relentless Search to Bring Home the Missing Hikers of the Pacific Crest Trail
- By: Andrea Lankford
- Narrated by: Kristi Burns
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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As a park ranger with the National Park Service's law enforcement team, Andrea Lankford led search and rescue missions in some of the most beautiful (and dangerous) landscapes across America, from Yosemite to the Grand Canyon. But though she had the support of the agency, Andrea grew frustrated with the service's bureaucratic idiosyncrasies, and left the force after twelve years. Two decades later, however, she stumbles across a mystery that pulls her right back where she left off: three young men have vanished from the Pacific Crest Trail.
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Much ado about nothing
- By Linda Harmon on 10-01-23
By: Andrea Lankford
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All That Is Wicked
- A Gilded-Age Story of Murder and the Race to Decode the Criminal Mind
- By: Kate Winkler Dawson
- Narrated by: Kate Winkler Dawson
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
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Edward Rulloff was a brilliant yet utterly amoral murderer—some have called him a “Victorian-era Hannibal Lecter”—whose crimes spanned decades and whose victims were chosen out of revenge, out of envy, and sometimes out of necessity.
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PLEASE STOP The Politicizing of Everything
- By Anonymous on 10-15-22
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Notorious
- Portraits of Stars from Hollywood, Culture, Fashion, and Tech
- By: Maureen Dowd
- Narrated by: Maureen Dowd
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Shining a white-hot spotlight on America’s famous, from Hollywood legends to Broadway stars to media moguls, Notorious is a captivating assortment of columnist Maureen Dowd’s most compelling style features and profiles. Using her signature wit and incisive commentary as a scalpel, Dowd dissects influential cultural elite.
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The honesty of the subjects
- By rumdok on 03-22-25
By: Maureen Dowd
Humans are complex, in life and death
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Fantastic
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Sad but True
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Remember you must die
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Title is deceiving
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