Download or read book Fragments on the Deathwatch written by Louise Harmon and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 1999-02-23 with total page 270 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Keeping vigil over the dying is an essential human practice with long cultural traditions and profound psychological benefits. Yet, as legal scholar Louise Harmon shows, the institutions of modern life-from hospitals to courtrooms-intrude on the practice. In this humane and lyrical book, Harmon looks at literature, philosophy, history, and autobiography as she delicately probes the taboos around discussion of death. She asks whether the law can recognize the needs of families and loved ones and protect the space of their grieving.