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    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    Audiobook7 hours

    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

    Written by Caitlin Doughty

    Narrated by Caitlin Doughty

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty - a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre - took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life's work. With an original voice that combines fearless curiosity and mordant wit, Caitlin tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters, gallows humor, and vivid characters (both living and very dead). Describing how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes), and cared for bodies of all shapes and sizes, Caitlin becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the deceased. Her eye-opening memoir shows how our fear of dying warps our culture and society, and she calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead). In the spirit of her popular Web series, "Ask a Mortician," Caitlin's engaging narrative style makes this otherwise scary topic both approachable and profound. "America's (kinda dark) sweetheart" (Huffington Post)Caitlin Doughty, the host and creator of the "Ask a Mortician" Web series and the collective Order of the Good Death, is on a mission to change the way we think about death.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateSep 15, 2014
    ISBN9781490657585
    Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory
    Author

    Caitlin Doughty

    Tanatopractora, activista y agitadora de la industria funeraria. En 2011 fundó el colectivo The Order of the Good Death, que ha impulsado el movimiento de muerte positiva. Su primer libro, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, fue un best-seller del New York Times. Descontenta con la situación y la oferta existente en la industria funeraria estadounidense, en 2015 abrió su propia funeraria alternativa, sin ánimo de lucro. La webserie de Caitlin «Pregúntele a un funerario» y su trabajo para cambiar la industria de la muerte, le han permitido colaborar con muchos y muy diversos medios.

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    Reviews for Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

    4.5/5

    1,393 ratings90 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Incredible. Ended up listening to the whole thing in one sitting. Powerful and made me think.
    • 5/5
      I know I loved it...I don't know a thing other then that
    • 5/5
      Funny and informative. Great for hospice nurse and future thanatologist!
    • 2/5
      Not my cup of tea. The book is mostly personal anecdotes and opinions and lacks any real substance.
    • 5/5
      You know what, as someone who has spent most of her young life fearing the inevitability that is death, I needed this book. The way that Caitlin discussed the North American culture surrounding dying and outlines what happens to a body after it is picked up by the morticians is oddly comforting. I think western society spends so much time attempting to push death and unpleasantness away that we end up doing more harm than good, and it is refreshing to have organizations like the Order of the Good Death working to change public perception and reminding people that like birth, death is an inevitable and natural part of being a living organism. I will almost certainly listen to this book again in the future.
    • 5/5
      There's not enough words I can use to praise this book. Maybe it's because I'm a young 22 year old itching to dive into the death industry but I adored this book cover to cover. It gives a very real insight into what life is like working on a crematorium, and how trying to get into this work can be so challenging. I also encourage anyone with a fear of death to give this book a listen.
      If you're wondering if you should listen to it, just do it.
    • 5/5
      I really enjoy Caitlin's books. Her expert knowledge in the field of death has taught me things I never even thought I needed to know. I now understand the meaning of being "death positive" and it's importance in our society.
    • 5/5
      Thank you for writing this book and bringing the topic of death to an audience that long treated the subject like taboo
    • 5/5
      I expected some light funny stories about work experiences and got tons of infos, stuff to think about and funny stories. It bothered me a bit though that it is very "american"(very emotional in some way) and if you're really interested in death many things you will already know.
    • 5/5
      Absolutely fantastic book, loved it. Struggled to put it down.
    • 5/5
      just lovely, honestly. just this year i’ve found caitlin’s youtube series (yes i am very late to the party) & although i’ve never been a “death enthusiast” or had any relationship with death, i’ve only been intrigued further into facing my own mortality which i am so far removed from, yet i know it is inevitable. i am currently in the process of writing/designing a thesis based around coping & adapting with aging; finishing this book has definitely made me feel less anxious & more confident in moving forward. thank you caitlin. i have a long way to go on my own journey, in which hopefully i get many years to see through, but i have so much respect for you, truly. i’d love to speak with caitlin although chances are slim, but anyway the point is, if you have interest in the going ons of funeral industry, what dealing with death is like, or even if you don’t have any interest at all in death shenanigans, i recommend this book. we all will die, no one is exempt & i don’t think there’s a downside at all to reading this. unless you’re afraid of hearing truthful, raw encounters with death i suppose… (probably should still give it a shot).
    • 5/5
      A big fan of the writer and an avid follower of her YouTube channel “ask a mortician”. After hearing her audio book “ will my cat eat my eye balls “ . I just had to hear her first book . Apart from being a great writer, her reading style is soothing and mesmerising. It makes listening to her book doubly entertaining. The subject matter is discussed openly and with honesty. Simply amazing book ?
    • 5/5
      Absolutely incredible!!! Amazing writing, phenomenal and humble insights, the right amount of humour. I reccomend to anyone (that is able to stomach vivid descriptions of corpses)!
    • 5/5
      Very well written - answers all the questions you are afraid to ask
    • 4/5
      intriguing, honest, open book about dead bodies written with integrity
    • 5/5
      Phenomenally written. A beautiful guide to the wonders of death.
    • 5/5
      A treasure trove of dead and death facts! Very informative. Excellent narration by Caitlin herself.
    • 5/5
      You know what, as someone who has spent most of her young life fearing the inevitability that is death, I needed this book. The way that Caitlin discussed the North American culture surrounding dying and outlines what happens to a body after it is picked up by the morticians is oddly comforting. I think western society spends so much time attempting to push death and unpleasantness away that we end up doing more harm than good, and it is refreshing to have organizations like the Order of the Good Death working to change public perception and reminding people that like birth, death is an inevitable and natural part of being a living organism. I will almost certainly listen to this book again in the future.
    • 5/5
      I first heard about this book while sitting on the 101 coming home from work. I don't remember if the author was being interviewed on NPR or if they were just talking about the book, but I immediately wanted to read it.

      Five years later, here I am.

      I had forgotten that the author was a 23-yo woman when she got her first job working at the crematory. Thinking back to myself at that age, I would totally have been up for that. I remember walking by our local mortuary and being creeped out by the hearse but wanting so bad to go inside and try to see a dead body. I loved horror movies and scary books.

      When my dad died in 2011, he died in the hospital, after Mom and I had gone home for the night. We were both horrified that he had died alone. We had wanted to be there with him. We could not believe he had died while she was watching the hometown team (Indiana) play in the final-four and I was in my room sending an email update to my friends.

      When I talked to the funeral home I told them I had to see my dad's body before they cremated him. I had to know for sure it was him and that he was really dead. Otherwise I'd be roaming the halls of the hospital forever, insisting he was there somewhere, I just had to find the right room.

      Mom said she wanted to see him, too. I did NOT think this was a good idea. I tried to play it down and talk her out of it, but she insisted so we went in together. It haunted her for a long time and I still don't think she should've done it. She says the image of him lying on that cold slab (it was a metal table) has faded. I hope so.

      Anyway, this book is really good. It's written as a memoir of her (Caitlin's) on-the-job experience. She has a great writing style, full of humor. Take the opening line, for example:

      "A girl always remembers the first corpse she shaves."

      She doesn't bore us with a lot of backstory, she jumps right into that morning when she jumps out of bed, puts on her steel toed boots, rings the bell and meets the cremation machines.

      Can. You. Imagine?????

      YES, of course this book is full of gory details, but it would have to be. She doesn't sensationalize anything, just tells you the straight up, unavoidable facts. The worst is definitely when she has to collect dead babies from the hospital and cremate their remains. So sad. So very sad.

      But it's life and death and it's real and every single one of us is going to experience dying, right? So for me, I was on a need to know basis with what exactly did they do to my dad's body after we left? Mom wants to be cremated too. I didn't know what I wanted. Now I know everything that happens to a body whether it is going to be buried or cremated and I want nothing to do with either one, thank you very much.

      I want a completely natural "green" burial now. But dayum that's expensive!!! I found a price sheet online at a local place that does natural burials. The price sheet was 2015. $17,000. You can be cremated for less than $1,000. I guess in the end it's up to whatever my life insurance will cover, eh?

      Anyway, if you're curious about what happens to your body after death, I highly recommend this book.
    • 5/5
      Caitlin shows such humor and good grace in any media she uses. I found myself laughing, crying, getting angry at injustices and thoughtful about what a Good Death means.
    • 5/5
      Well, well, very well written! :) :) :) :) :)
    • 5/5
      A great & fascinating memoir. The writing style is easy to follow too.
    • 5/5
      This book both fed into my want to know what happens to our bodies after death and to the conversation I have with myself about mortality. I loved that the tone is serious and joking at the same time. It really helps to break the ice and keep me reading.
    • 5/5
      Focused, thoughtful and thought provoking. I love this book!
    • 5/5
      Ever since she was a child, Caitlin has been obsessed with death. Whether dealing with obsessive-compulsive behaviors to prevent the unexpected demise of friends and loved ones, or her college major in Medieval history, it always seems to come back to bodies. It's therefore surprising to no one when Caitlin gets a job working at a Crematory. Through her experiences working with the dead directly, Caitlin begins to feel that something is terribly wrong with the way America does death. In fact, the whole Western world seems to be living in a constant state of denial. Death and bodies are hidden from the public eye and we all pretend mortality isn't happening to us.This book is a collection of lessons about dying and how to die well. A much needed wake up call to our culture. Death is real, death is coming for all of us. We can't escape it. And peace can come only with acceptance. By turns heartfelt and hilarious, this is a nice comfortable memento mori.
    • 5/5
      Sometimes making me stop in mid sentance , sometimes making me grimace at the description - thoroughly enjoyed this of our world . Highly recommend it .
    • 5/5
      I really enjoyed this memoir; Doughty did an amazing job making the funeral and mortuary world fascinating, and she has a beautiful empathy and honesty in the process.
    • 4/5
      Did you know that they burn fat people at the beginning of the day when the ovens are just getting started and are therefor a bit cooler? That they save the leaner people and the babies for the end of the day when the oven's running hottest? Yep, there's all kinds of good tidbits running through this book. Pick it up and enjoy.
    • 3/5
      The book causes one to reexamine the way we deal with the dead, however at times it seems to meander without much of a goal
    • 5/5
      A nonfiction memoir-esque book about Doughty’s work in the funeral field. I love this subject so I found it all fascinating, but I also used to want to be a mortician, and have also written about my experiences with death. The stories Doughty shares aren’t for the easily grossed out - it’s not a “guess what silly thing happened in the mortuary!” book, but rather serious anecdotes of things she experienced and what they made her think about. I especially love her quest for more natural deaths, both in how we treat the bodies and what we do to dispose of them. Highly recommended!