Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
Flip to back
Flip to front
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory Hardcover – September 15, 2014
 |
$15.72
FREE Shipping on orders over $35.
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
Gift-wrap available.
NO_CONTENT_IN_FEATURE
Start reading Smoke Gets in Your Eyes on your Kindle in under a minute.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?.
|
Editorial Reviews
Review
“Caitlin Doughty takes you to places you didn’t know you wanted to go. Fascinating, funny, and so very necessary, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes reveals exactly what's wrong with modern death denial.” (Bess Lovejoy, author of Rest in Pieces: The Curious Fates of Famous Corpses)
“Alternately heartbreaking and hilarious, fascinating and freaky, vivid and morbid, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is witty, sharply drawn, and deeply moving. Like a poisonous cocktail, Caitlin Doughty's memoir intoxicates and enchants even as it encourages you to embrace oblivion; she breathes life into death.” (Dodai Stewart, deputy editor of Jezebel.com)
“[Doughty’s] sincere, hilarious, and perhaps life-altering memoir is a must-read for anyone who plans on dying.” (Katharine Fronk - Booklist, Starred review)
“Caitlin Doughty is best known for her YouTube series Ask a Mortician, and she brings the same charisma and drollery to her essay collection Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Think Sloane Crosley meets Six Feet Under… After confronting mortality day in and day out, Doughty becomes more philosophical about her job. Evoking Kafka, she writes that 'the meaning of life is that it ends.' Everything must come to an end; it’s just a shame this book eventually does too.” (Kevin Nguyen - Grantland)
“Entertaining and thought-provoking.” (Julia Jenkins - Shelf Awareness)
“Demonically funny dispatches.” (O Magazine)
“Morbid and illuminating.” (Entertainment Weekly)
“Alternately heartbreaking and hilarious, fascinating and freaky, vivid and morbid, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is witty, sharply drawn, and deeply moving. Like a poisonous cocktail, Caitlin Doughty's memoir intoxicates and enchants even as it encourages you to embrace oblivion; she breathes life into death.” (Dodai Stewart, deputy editor of Jezebel.com)
“[Doughty’s] sincere, hilarious, and perhaps life-altering memoir is a must-read for anyone who plans on dying.” (Katharine Fronk - Booklist, Starred review)
“Caitlin Doughty is best known for her YouTube series Ask a Mortician, and she brings the same charisma and drollery to her essay collection Smoke Gets in Your Eyes. Think Sloane Crosley meets Six Feet Under… After confronting mortality day in and day out, Doughty becomes more philosophical about her job. Evoking Kafka, she writes that 'the meaning of life is that it ends.' Everything must come to an end; it’s just a shame this book eventually does too.” (Kevin Nguyen - Grantland)
“Entertaining and thought-provoking.” (Julia Jenkins - Shelf Awareness)
“Demonically funny dispatches.” (O Magazine)
“Morbid and illuminating.” (Entertainment Weekly)
About the Author
Caitlin Doughty is a licensed mortician and the host and creator of the "Ask a Mortician" web series. She founded the death acceptance collective The Order of the Good Death and cofounded Death Salon. She lives in Los Angeles.
More About the Author
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
91 of 92 people found the following review helpful
By
sb-lynn
TOP 500 REVIEWER on August 12, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
(
What's this?
)
3 Comments
Sending feedback...
I had trouble coming up with a title for this review that wouldn't turn off anyone because I think this is an important book and I hope many, many people read it.
The author of this book has been fascinated with the subject of death and dying since she was a young girl and witnessed the death of another young girl who took a fall at a local mall. For years afterwards she was filled with angst and trepidation and described herself as "functionally morbid."
When she went to college she got a degree in medieval history with a focus on death and rituals and afterwards got a job working at a mortuary - the Westwind Cremation & Burial.
This book describes her experiences facing death straight on and how it actually eased her own existential angst and made her better able to appreciate and enjoy her own life. We not only read (detailed) descriptions of what happens to bodies in a crematorium, we also learn about other mortuary practices and what really happens behind the scenes.
The author makes such an important case against our own culture's tendency to avoid death (and aging!) and to try to avoid its very existence. She points out how in the past and how even today - in other cultures - family and neighbors took care of their dead and witnessed dying all the time. She points out how important that is to accepting our own death and by doing so, make it less frightening and esoteric.
Lest I give the impression that this is a depressing book, for me it was not. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments and when I finished the last page I found myself with a little less of my own existential angst.
This book reminded me a lot of science writer Mary Roach and I feel like I'd love to hang out and be friends with both of them. Ms.Read more ›
The author of this book has been fascinated with the subject of death and dying since she was a young girl and witnessed the death of another young girl who took a fall at a local mall. For years afterwards she was filled with angst and trepidation and described herself as "functionally morbid."
When she went to college she got a degree in medieval history with a focus on death and rituals and afterwards got a job working at a mortuary - the Westwind Cremation & Burial.
This book describes her experiences facing death straight on and how it actually eased her own existential angst and made her better able to appreciate and enjoy her own life. We not only read (detailed) descriptions of what happens to bodies in a crematorium, we also learn about other mortuary practices and what really happens behind the scenes.
The author makes such an important case against our own culture's tendency to avoid death (and aging!) and to try to avoid its very existence. She points out how in the past and how even today - in other cultures - family and neighbors took care of their dead and witnessed dying all the time. She points out how important that is to accepting our own death and by doing so, make it less frightening and esoteric.
Lest I give the impression that this is a depressing book, for me it was not. There are so many laugh-out-loud moments and when I finished the last page I found myself with a little less of my own existential angst.
This book reminded me a lot of science writer Mary Roach and I feel like I'd love to hang out and be friends with both of them. Ms.Read more ›
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
51 of 52 people found the following review helpful
By
Malfoyfan
VINE VOICE on August 10, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
(
What's this?
)
Comment
Sending feedback...
I found this book to be a refreshing, unsentimental and honest look at the way Americans deal with death - which is to say, not very effectively. Author Doughty spent time working in a crematory and later went through mortuary school, and her memoir is by turns darkly funny, fascinating, disgusting, and touching. I have a lot of admiration for anyone who works in a crematory, does embalming, or deals with mourning relatives - it's very challenging work and I couldn't do it.
In addition to her own story, Doughty skillfully weaves in a history of embalming, American funeral traditions, other cultures' funeral rites and beliefs about death, and how the mortuary industry works, and it's all quite interesting, if sometimes a little difficult to read. If you're squeamish, it might be best to steer clear, as Doughty spares no description in her quest to open the reader's eyes to what really happens to our bodies after we die and how we can best understand and deal with death more honestly and directly than we currently do.
I don't know if I should say I "enjoyed" this book the way I would enjoy a novel, but I certainly appreciated it, especially since I have gone through the deaths of family members and am getting on in years myself, and I feel it's important to explore and be able to talk about our own ends openly, rather than tiptoeing around the subject.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the mortuary/funeral industry, medical students (doctors in this country don't deal with death very well), and anyone who, like me, wants to understand more about death and how to plan for it.
In addition to her own story, Doughty skillfully weaves in a history of embalming, American funeral traditions, other cultures' funeral rites and beliefs about death, and how the mortuary industry works, and it's all quite interesting, if sometimes a little difficult to read. If you're squeamish, it might be best to steer clear, as Doughty spares no description in her quest to open the reader's eyes to what really happens to our bodies after we die and how we can best understand and deal with death more honestly and directly than we currently do.
I don't know if I should say I "enjoyed" this book the way I would enjoy a novel, but I certainly appreciated it, especially since I have gone through the deaths of family members and am getting on in years myself, and I feel it's important to explore and be able to talk about our own ends openly, rather than tiptoeing around the subject.
I would recommend this book to anyone with an interest in the mortuary/funeral industry, medical students (doctors in this country don't deal with death very well), and anyone who, like me, wants to understand more about death and how to plan for it.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
65 of 68 people found the following review helpful
By
Quirky Girl
VINE VOICE on August 25, 2014
Format: Hardcover
Vine Customer Review of Free Product
(
What's this?
)
Comment
Sending feedback...
I was really torn about how to review this. I have a background in emergency medicine, so I understand that a sense of humor and looking at things in a non-serious way is what helps people get through difficult takes. I remember one time a reporter was riding a-long with us and we were dispatched to an accident. The reporter asked how I felt or something and I said, "I hope it turns into a vehicle rescue!" I ended up getting in trouble for saying that, though those who have worked in EMS/FIRE/POLICE totally understand where I'm coming from. It's not that I wished harm on anyone, it's just that I hoped the call would be challenging. So, it was with that sense of understanding I thought I was going to enjoy Doughty's trip into the world of what happens when EMS or doctors or whomever can't save a person.
I was not ready.
I only read a few chapters and had to put it down. Perhaps its my age (though I'm not that old!) I am facing mortality possibly sooner than I surely thought I would. And reading about what goes on behind closed doors, even though Doughty seems to be a great storyteller, I can't bring myself to finish this.
I'm giving this four stars because I certainly can't fault the author for my own lack of misjudgment, but not 5 stars because perhaps if she had written it in a...less witty (though I totally understand and appreciate her being herself!) and more oh...gah, I don't know, tender? way, I might have been able to swallow my fear and plod on.
As a Vine reviewer, I am obligated to leave a review, and I've never had this situation occur (and I feel dreadful about it!). I probably would have done well to read the first few chapters prior to choosing this, and I think it's a good recommendation for those considering reading Smoke...you might think you're ready to read about death, but once you open that door, you might wish you had kept it closed.
Bravo to Doughty and those who do the jobs they do.
I was not ready.
I only read a few chapters and had to put it down. Perhaps its my age (though I'm not that old!) I am facing mortality possibly sooner than I surely thought I would. And reading about what goes on behind closed doors, even though Doughty seems to be a great storyteller, I can't bring myself to finish this.
I'm giving this four stars because I certainly can't fault the author for my own lack of misjudgment, but not 5 stars because perhaps if she had written it in a...less witty (though I totally understand and appreciate her being herself!) and more oh...gah, I don't know, tender? way, I might have been able to swallow my fear and plod on.
As a Vine reviewer, I am obligated to leave a review, and I've never had this situation occur (and I feel dreadful about it!). I probably would have done well to read the first few chapters prior to choosing this, and I think it's a good recommendation for those considering reading Smoke...you might think you're ready to read about death, but once you open that door, you might wish you had kept it closed.
Bravo to Doughty and those who do the jobs they do.
Thank you for your feedback.
If this review is inappropriate, please let us know.
Sorry, we failed to record your vote. Please try again
Most Recent Customer Reviews
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
