Praised for its unabashed portrait of the "death care" industry, HBO's Six Feet Under is less about the business of death than the art of living well. Created by the Oscar winner Alan Ball (American Beauty), this innovative, controversial show charts difficult territory--from death, dying and bereavement, to female and gay sexualities, to family obligation and relationships--laying bare in the process an American cultural consciousness. This book examines such predominant themes as the dead body, magic realism and the grotesque, American cultural politics, family relationships, homosexuality, motherhood and more. A complete episode guide to the first four seasons is included.