I have always been an incredibly morbid kid, but as an adult in recent years, really kicked that into high gear deciding to go into the mortician career. So, obviously, this book is not my first brush with death or the ins and outs of what goes on in funeral homes and for funeral directors. That said, I adore Caitlin Doughty and her death positivity movement, so this book was a natural first contender for my friend and I's book club for morticians (which is, shockingly, still just the two of us!). While I had a general idea of what the industry was like, Caitlin's casually visceral descriptions of what happened with the bodies, and the fears she developed surrounding her job affecting her personal life really made me stop and consider things I hadn't before about the things I will see in this career field, and how much of myself will go into the work. Thankfully, I came out of the book relatively unscathed, and dare I say even more eager to pursue this career.
For people not accustomed to discussing or reading about the macabre, I feel this is a fantastic jumping off point. She not only covers the things she did as a crematory operator, but discusses the history of the funeral industry, the customs surrounding death in the U.S. and around the world, and a ton of other things that even if you aren't looking to handle corpses for a living, would be fascinating to learn. On top of that, she delivers such a difficult topic in such a personable way that makes it almost easy to forget exactly how morbid what you're reading is, until she dives right back into the graphic descriptions of what she does. Although I found Caitlin Doughty after my initial interest in being a funeral director, she's become a role model for the way I want to approach death both personally and professionally, and I can't recommend her, or this book, enough.
Writing Style: 5/5
Pacing: 4.5/5
Overall: 4.75
Thanks for reading!
Davis
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