Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Book 148: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

I'm still not completely sure how this wound up on my Amazon wishlist, but I'm so happy it did. This was a fascinating book that answered many of the questions I've always had about end of life processes.

Caitlin Doughty spent a year as an assistant at a crematory and learned to perform many of the behind-the-scene functions that funeral directors don't talk about. Her experience at the crematorium led her to pursue a career in providing dignified death arrangements. She shares intimate details of her early life that shaped her adult life and ease with death. Her book, written over the course of six years, was respectful, deep, and sometimes downright funny.

In this book Doughty reveals secrets of the mortuary profession and describes the history behind the adoption of many of today's funeral standards. Some were established out of scientific necessity; others are utterly pointless. She carefully distinguishes between the two and backs up her claims with plenty of evidence. She also discusses the human need for closure and how modern perceptions of death stand in the way of our own ability to appreciate death.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory was an excellent book, one I'm glad I purchased so that I can read it again and again. I would highly recommend it.

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