Reviews

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

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gsantino32's review against another edition

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really interesting to read. a lot of really sad situations covered as well as some very graphic stuff described.

peppermint_kiss's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny informative reflective relaxing sad medium-paced

4.0

I enjoyed the author's tone and the variety of stories she told. I learned some new things and enjoyed seeing one person's perspective on work she clearly values and takes seriously. I think the structure could have been improved somewhat to transmit a bit more of a message or recurring themes, though that's a personal preference. A solid read for fans of morbid memoirs!

jyb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

2.0

The cases and medical aspects of this book were interesting enough that this book could’ve been a 4 or 5 star read, but the author’s comments about suicide immediately dropped this to a two star rating.

I am genuinely insulted and disgusted with the author’s opinion on suicide: calling it a “selfish act” without any thought to the intricacies of mental health and the causes of suicide. She calls suicide “selfish” multiple times throughout this book (FYI, this is the second quote where it happens!): “It’s a goddamned self act, suicide, if you ask me.” Yeah? NOBODY ASKED YOU.

She clearly has personal issues with suicide due to her father, but that’s no excuse to make assumptions and project it onto others. Moreover, the way she thinks about her father’s suicide, specifically, unnerves and saddens me: “He was sober. I couldn’t blame drugs. I could only and still blame [my father].” Personally, I think saying it’s someone’s own fault for committing suicide is a rather awful thing to say about someone. Perhaps it’s wanting to have an “external force” to “explain it away,” which I understand, but she clearly is “still blaming” her father for his suicide. Paired with her claims of selfishness, I am not inclined to think well of her opinions. These mental asides regarding suicide ruin the medically oriented experience of the book and immediately made me think far less of the author. (She was also rather judgemental about people dealing with addiction, which was also not something I enjoyed seeing.)

And, regardless of these comments, the structure of the book itself is also extremely confusing. She jumps all over the place timeline-wise, and it is extremely hard to follow in what order what happened. Perhaps that is on purpose, but it just made the book feel very disorganized and lacking in structure, and ruined part of the experience.

Overall, the medical stuff was extremely interesting and engaging (especially the 9/11 chapter), but I am thoroughly insulted by her opinions on suicide. I cannot give this anything more than 2 stars.

jenmat1197's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

This is the story of the author. As a fellow in forensic pathology, she spent two years in New York City as a medical examiner. Her tenure started 2 months before 9/11 and carried through the following months that she was involved in the recovery efforts and finally her move to California when she had enough. Her husband and son by her side, she recounts her day to day work as a medical examiner and then what it was like to work the scene of 9/11. She gets into the details of what it was like to see bodies in various stages as she learned how to determine cause of death, to speak to families, and to present her findings in court.

This was a great book. I do have to admit that these kind of books fascinate me, and as a nurse, I am not bothered by the content. But this book should come with a warning for those who are squeemish. She gets into the details of bodies as they come to her in the morgue, and especially at the scene of 9/11. She works the 9/11 scene for 8 months - under harsh conditions where bodies and parts are brought to her as they work to try and identify people. It will chill you.

melissa125's review against another edition

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5.0

I was the 12 year old who decided she wanted to be a forensic pathologist (so glad I didn’t pursue it my academic talent lies in books not bodies) and the death industry is still my “weird” subject of fascination.

This book is great, with so many gross and wonderful nuggets of knowledge about the human body and the ways medical examiners puzzle out a cause of death.