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A review by rhi_reading
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
challenging
emotional
informative
medium-paced
3.5
A frank and honest look at the death industry in the US, this book is a Frankenstein’s monster of memoir, manifesto, and general musings on death and mortality that doesn’t shy away from the gory details. If you’ve currently got a newborn baby, I’d recommend skipping the chapter on infant cremation.
I awarded the book 3.5 because while the subject matter was interesting, the prose was a little over-written and quippy for my taste. The author’s breeziness around morbid topics is a key feature of the book that does benefit the text overall, but there are times when she would have benefited from drawing back a little and letting the actual topic at hand speak for itself instead of trying to cram in a pithy observation or half-hearted joke.
I awarded the book 3.5 because while the subject matter was interesting, the prose was a little over-written and quippy for my taste. The author’s breeziness around morbid topics is a key feature of the book that does benefit the text overall, but there are times when she would have benefited from drawing back a little and letting the actual topic at hand speak for itself instead of trying to cram in a pithy observation or half-hearted joke.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail