Book Review: Scripting Death: Stories of Assisted Dying in America

Anthropologists are well-known for their tendency to think small (by focusing on local communities), engage in what Clifford Geertz (1973) called “thick description,” and grasp for broader insights and conclusions. In this respect, Mara Buchbinder’s ethnographic research on how patients, caregivers, health care providers, legislators, and activists have responded to Vermont’s 2013 Patient Choice and Control at End of Life Act is exem- plary. As she explains, “One of the strengths of ethnography is its refusal to compromise between specificity and generality” (15). That is Buchbinder’s rationale for studying Vermont as a “microcosm of a larger national story, offering insights into cultural ideals, fears, and debates that will resonate across the United States” (15). She interviewed 144 Vermonters and participated, as an observer, in advocacy and educational events and profes-xsional medical conferences. Her book uncovers layers of complexity and depth in the area of medical aid in dying, otherwise known as death with dignity or physician-assisted suicide. It is well written and serves as a good example of how a wide range of concepts in the social sciences can be useful for interpreting detailed empirical material.