yoteach87's review against another edition
4.0
Working stiff is a brilliantly written Memoir of experience in a New York morgue as a forensic pathologist. I really enjoyed some of the more colorful anecdotes as dr. Judy worked to figure out a cause of death and sometimes classification of such. A lot of her words and stories provide a lot of insight into a field I knew nothing about. It's a huge contrast to some of the TV shows you watched about forensic science. Overall and entertaining and informative read.
sarahannkateri's review against another edition
4.0
Good choice for fans of [b:Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers|32145|Stiff The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers|Mary Roach|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1347656489s/32145.jpg|1188203]
lucysmom828's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an interesting book, and as someone who loved CSI and loves true crime, I greatly appreciated the detailed look into a medical examiner's line of work. You hit the ground running in the first chapter, learning about Dr. Melinek's brief foray into surgery and how she discovered forensic pathology. There are so many interesting cases presented, and she explains them thoroughly, talking to the reader about why each case is classified a certain way, and what she's looking for when dissecting a body. There is a bit of medical terminology, but she frequently puts it into layman's terms.
It was amazing to see how she treated the people she was examining with such respect. Her primary goal was to determine what caused people's death, regardless of the pressure she felt from others (detectives, law enforcement officers, etc.) to falsify findings or leave out crucial pieces. (I will clarify that these "discrepencies" don't happen all that often, but she doesn't fold under pressure when it does.)
I wasn't expecting a chapter about 9/11, but it gave me a great appreciation for the public servants who continued to work for the next few years. She was a part of the team that identified the victims, and there was such raw emotion throughout this chapter (Chapter 10: DM01). I've always had questions in the back of my mind about how they managed clean-up, and this answered those questions and so many more.
The reason this is 4 stars (instead of 5) is because she completely lacks empathy for people who die by suicide. I understand that her views on suicide are impacted by her father's death by suicide. However, she is also a medical professional, and she seems to lack a basic understanding of the reasons why people die by suicide and their thought process when contemplating it. She says things like suicide is "a goddamned selfish act" and that most people "manage to delude themselves into believing they are doing their loved ones a favor." I would have hoped that she would be more kind and consider their stories, but she doesn't, and it's so incredibly disappointing. This leads to me to two thoughts: Either she didn't receive appropriate training in medical school, or she was blinded by her bias when it was taught. Regardless, she has much to learn about this topic in particular.
Other than this critique, I highly recommend this book. It shines a light on a field that is often misrepresented in popular culture and does so in a way that keeps you enthralled with each case.
It was amazing to see how she treated the people she was examining with such respect. Her primary goal was to determine what caused people's death, regardless of the pressure she felt from others (detectives, law enforcement officers, etc.) to falsify findings or leave out crucial pieces. (I will clarify that these "discrepencies" don't happen all that often, but she doesn't fold under pressure when it does.)
I wasn't expecting a chapter about 9/11, but it gave me a great appreciation for the public servants who continued to work for the next few years. She was a part of the team that identified the victims, and there was such raw emotion throughout this chapter (Chapter 10: DM01). I've always had questions in the back of my mind about how they managed clean-up, and this answered those questions and so many more.
The reason this is 4 stars (instead of 5) is because she completely lacks empathy for people who die by suicide. I understand that her views on suicide are impacted by her father's death by suicide. However, she is also a medical professional, and she seems to lack a basic understanding of the reasons why people die by suicide and their thought process when contemplating it. She says things like suicide is "a goddamned selfish act" and that most people "manage to delude themselves into believing they are doing their loved ones a favor." I would have hoped that she would be more kind and consider their stories, but she doesn't, and it's so incredibly disappointing. This leads to me to two thoughts: Either she didn't receive appropriate training in medical school, or she was blinded by her bias when it was taught. Regardless, she has much to learn about this topic in particular.
Other than this critique, I highly recommend this book. It shines a light on a field that is often misrepresented in popular culture and does so in a way that keeps you enthralled with each case.
roseybot's review against another edition
4.0
Wow. This book was heavy, but also up lifting. It was great to read, and I'm glad I did.
sooz_767's review against another edition
3.0
As much as I enjoyed(?) the subject (don't judge me!), it just felt a bit repetitive after a while. For such a short book, it felt long.
The book covers a few years at the start of the doctor's career as a medical examiner but there's so much dialogue between her and colleagues I wonder if she wrote it all down at the time or if its just been made up to simulate what would have been discussed. It just felt a bit off.
Definitely worth a read, just perhaps written in a bit of an odd way for a nonfiction/memoir.
The book covers a few years at the start of the doctor's career as a medical examiner but there's so much dialogue between her and colleagues I wonder if she wrote it all down at the time or if its just been made up to simulate what would have been discussed. It just felt a bit off.
Definitely worth a read, just perhaps written in a bit of an odd way for a nonfiction/memoir.
katsherms's review against another edition
4.0
This book is well written and really interesting, but wanted to put a huge disclaimer that it contains two of the most upsetting things I have ever read, one of which has given me nightmares since I first read that passage years ago.
demetria_books01's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
kpownall's review against another edition
3.0
i feel like this memoir had the bones to be great in terms of content. but it lacked a cohesion and strong sense of voice. for the first half of the book it felt like she haphazardly jumped between cases with lack of transitions and reason until i finally figured out each chapter had a theme (ish).