Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematorium - Softcover

Caitlin Doughty

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782111050 ISBN 13: 9781782111054

Publisher: Canongate Books, 2016

Synopsis

THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

'Unforgettable . . . a hilarious, poignant and impassioned plea to revolutionise our attitudes to death' Gavin Francis, Guardian

From her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, twenty-three-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about she started to wonder about the lives of those she cremated and the mourning families they left behind, and found herself confounded by people's erratic reactions to death. Exploring our death rituals - and those of other cultures - she pleads the case for healthier attitudes around death and dying. Full of bizarre encounters, gallows humour and vivid characters (both living and very dead), this illuminating account makes this otherwise terrifying subject inviting and fascinating.

About this title

Review:

"A zingy, fresh and possibly even important book about death . . . This book might change your life" (Evening Standard)

"Upbeat, brave and brilliantly, morbidly curious . . . Important and timely" (Sunday Times)

"A well-researched, beautifully observed book and Doughty is a convincing and impassioned advocate for changes in our cultural attitudes towards death . . . There's much to enjoy in this thoughtful, unflinching and highly entertaining memoir" (Observer)

"Absolutely and utterly life affirming . . . Nothing is off limits . . . And yet all of it is written with the utmost respect . . . There are many moments that moved me . . . Doughty's language is full of the notion of care" (Scotsman)

"Funny but not flippant, sometimes painful, but rightly so, and always compelling" (Literary Review)

"Frank . . . philosophical . . . engaging and even wicked" (New York Times)

"Acerbic, hilarious, and thoughtful . . . Doughty's feisty but lovable personality shines through, and that would be enough for a decent memoir, but she does so much more here. The author uses her own life as a jumping off point in this beautifully crafted piece of writing, dovetailing her own observations with the work of psychologists, literary figures, industry professionals, philosophers, and religious leaders to argue coherently and convincingly that the impersonal, big business model of the funeral industry is robbing us of a vital component of the human experience. She argues that only by facing our mortality and becoming intimate with the idea of death can we live our lives to the fullest, and it's hard to argue with her" (Independent)

"Eye-opening, cringe-inducing, often hilarious, occasionally haunting, always insightful" (DAVID EAGLEMAN)

"Caitlin Doughty blows a huge matter-of-fact hole in the grim curtain of silence surrounding the death industry - and what a blessed relief that is. This book absolutely must be read, if only to remind all of us that exercise, organic food and plastic surgery only work up to a point. Doughty is my kind of death crusader - compassionate, unblinking and very, very funny" (MEG ROSOFF)

"Caitlin Doughty is not what I imagine a funeral director to be . . . she is funny, young and enthusiastic, the same characteristics that infuse her memoir" (Sunday Times)

"Strange and funny. It may well blow your mind wide open" (Flavorwire)

"[Doughty's] sincere, hilarious, and perhaps life-altering memoir is a must-read for anyone who plans on dying" (Booklist)

"Arresting . . . refreshing . . . riveting" (Grazia)

"Timely, funny, honest and interesting, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is an enormously helpful contribution to the current taboo-breaking debate about death" (Virginia Ironside)

"With the dark wit you might expect from an undertaker and the compassion and insight you might not, strong storytelling and vivid descriptions, she displays a protective mechanism that the psychologists seem to have forgotten - humour" (New Scientist)

"Brave and fascinating . . . unusually funny" (Daily Mail)

"A death-changing book . . . It is impossible not to be inspired by Doughty's commitment to her cause" (The Times)

"Often funny . . . yet never irreverent" --Sunday Times

"A highly unusual memoir . . . a manifesto for how to live - and die - better. Caitlin, with her no-nonsense style and absolute single-mindedness plus a healthy dose of goth sensibility, bravely shows that death is nothing to be afraid of" (Twin Magazine) --Twin Magazine

"Truly riveting . . . this funerally forthright book rings with life and dead-pan humour . . . Having read her brilliant contribution to the death debate, I'm with her all the way to the cremation chamber (and I'd let her push the button)" (Bookseller, Book of the Month) --Bookseller

Book Description:

The critically acclaimed account of Caitlin Doughty's first year working on the funerary frontlines

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate Books
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1782111050
• ISBN 13: 9781782111054
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272