Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin DoughtyMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Really enjoyed this one. I have been following Caitlin Doughty's 'Ask a Mortician' YouTube series for a few years now and always loved her 'death positivity' and the way she shared information and her thoughts on the death industry. Her book was terribly informative but also very humorous and real. She has such a passion for her profession and the people/bodies she takes care of it comes across throughout the entire book. Parts of the book were really gross, lots of details on embalming and cremation, but humorous anecdotes that reminds you even in the death industry you have to find things to laugh about. Caitlin is also the founder of 'The Order of the Good Death' a community of morticians, doctors, artists, and death positivity folks who want to help get away from the commercialization of the industry, as is said many times in the book and it's horrifying to me, but death is big business and big money. So the Order wants to make it more personalized and let the family be involved again, all things that do sound lovely.
I've pretty much wanted to be cremated since college when I took a 'Death and Dying' class but just because you're cremated doesn't mean there aren't pre-cremation services, viewings or rituals that could take place. So while I know this is probably a touchy subject to a lot of people and most people wouldn't want to read a book like this around the holidays, I really enjoyed it and don't get scared talking or thinking about it. If you've ever been interested or just have a morbid curiosity about cremation, mortuary scienty, or why a young woman from Hawaii would choose to go into the death business after getting a liberal arts degree then I'd say pick it up, you might like it.
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