Dying with class: Race, religion, and the commodification of a good death

Abstract

"Evelyn’s never had a Twinkie." That’s the first thing Marvin2 says to me when I answer the phone late one November night. "She’d like to try one." Before she dies, we both think. I spent most of the next morning, my birthday, visiting every deli in three neighborhoods looking for a last, discontinued Twinkie3 on the shelves, but found none. Finally I searched eBay and slapped down $25 for the odd, dying wish of a very wealthy woman, perhaps the last American to never have a Twinkie cross her palate.