Furnishing Eternity

“Giffels does well as a voice of the Midwest…but this is for everyone.” —Library Journal From the acclaimed author of The Hard Way on Purpose, a vibrant, heartfelt memoir about confronting mortality, surviving loss, finding resilience in one’s Midwest roots and seeking a father’s wisdom through an unusual woodworking project—constructing his own coffin.David Giffels grew up fascinated by his father’s dusty, tool-strewn workshop and the countless creations—some practical, others fantastical—it inspired. So when he enlisted his eighty-one-year-old dad to help him with the unusual project of building his own casket, he thought of it mostly as an opportunity to sharpen his woodworking skills and to spend time together. But life, as it usually does, had other plans. The unexpected deaths of his mother and, a year later, his best friend, coupled with the dawning realization that his...