Reviews tagging 'Death'

Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek, T. J. Mitchell

23 reviews

coyotesoul's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

3.75

Some parts of the book were hard to read, such as the chapter regarding 9/11. Overall, I thought it was a worthwhile read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Alcoholism, Child death, and Drug use

micksland's review against another edition

dark emotional informative fast-paced

5.0

5 stars!

This memoir by Dr. Judy Melinek details her time as a medical examiner in New York City. People find a lot of creative ways to die in the Big Apple, and Dr. Melinek describes the process of autopsy and investigation with empathy and macabre humor. Americans really hate to think about death, preferring to see it as something that happens only in hospitals, separate from the "real world". The author encourages us to look at death in a more realistic and humane way, and I think that's a very valuable thing for readers to experience.

The memoir is told out of chronological order; first, we get more humorous anecdotes that draw the reader in and acclimate us to Dr. Melinek's narrative style. The stories get progressively darker as the narrative moves on, culminating in her work doing autopsies on victims of the September 11 terrorist attacks and, immediately afterwards, on an anthrax attack victim. The book pulls zero punches and is a much stronger work for it. Overall, highly recommended.

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I would be remiss in writing this review if I did not speak about the surgical training aspect of the memoir. Dr. Melinek initially went to residency to become a surgeon before transitioning to pathology, but was driven out of the field by the inhuman working conditions. EVERY SINGLE MEDICAL MEMOIR that I have ever read has talked about the inhumanity of the working conditions in American surgical residencies. As a medical student, I was kept awake multiple times for 36 hour shifts, and that is nothing compared to the shit that surgical residents endure. Think about that: it is illegal to keep prisoners awake for 36 hours, but surgical training demands this on a regular basis. The cruelty is the point. It is an inherent part of the system for training surgeons in the United States. Everyone in the medical field knows this, and nothing will change until we call it out and demand better working conditions for residents. Call your Senators and Representatives and demand change - prevent the abuse that happened to Dr. Melinek and that is still happening to surgical trainees all around the country.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Suicide, Medical content, and Murder

Moderate: Child death and Blood

siobhanward's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.5

I liked the premise of this book and for the most part, Melinek told her story well. I think wrapping up her book by writing about 9/11 and the aftermath really made the book feel impactful. I appreciated how down to earth and honest she was, but struggled when she moved into territory that felt crass. I get that MEs rely on dark humour to get through their job a lot of the time, but describing a woman as having been "creamed" by a car was a bit much for me. Sure, in the office, that might be fine, but in a book? That woman was a real person with a family - so that descriptor just really didn't sit well with me. Otherwise, the book was solid, at times it felt repetitive or dragged on about a story that just didn't engage me, but it was an interesting topic and mostly told well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, and Medical content

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Violence, Car accident, and Murder

lisettemarie's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Death, Drug use, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Medical content, and Death of parent

hail_archangel's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicide

There's an excellent chapter dealing with 9/11 and the immense nature of the rescue and recovery operation. Be warned, it is very graphic and intense.

gracehunt1's review against another edition

funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

dromedaryreader's review against another edition

informative reflective fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Self harm, Suicide, Terminal illness, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders

weeney_hut_jr's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

wildthiiiing's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

4.0

This was a great read - although I typically love reading about this more macabre sort of thing. Sometimes the author didn't do a great job of breaking down the medical terms - but usually she did quite well. At times she also definitely seemed to *try* to be overtly gory or gross about things - but I suppose you should expect that when reading books about cadavers. 

You can clearly tell the author loves her job, and she writes in an upbeat manner for the most part - while giving proper somber tones when needed depending on the subject matter. Occasionally the time line jumps around a little bit - but where she is telling stories based on each particular case and less on an overall timeline, it wasn't a terrible bother. 

This is another book on my 2023 list where I read it in less than 48 hours - I could hardly put it down when I had spare time to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Suicide, and Violence

honeyenbee's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, and Death of parent