Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Staff Top Fives 2015

Our favorite books of the year.

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is not only a candid memoir with a healthy dose of black humor, but an insightful conversation on the art of dying and an earnest call for a death positive revolution.  Recommended By Hayley H., Powells.com

Known for her "Ask a Mortician" web series, Caitlin Doughty's book about her connection to and experiences in crematoriums is a heartfelt and informative foray into the American funeral industry. Slyly humorous and definitely not for the squeamish, Doughty has a lot of cool things to say about confronting American culture's horror of death and thinking about what a good death means for you.  Recommended By SitaraG, Powells.com

Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty — a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre — took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life's work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased.

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

"Entertaining and thought-provoking." Booklist, Starred review

"Demonically funny dispatches." Julia Jenkins, Shelf Awareness

"Morbid and illuminating." O Magazine

"A book as graphic and morbid as this one could easily suck its readers into a bout of sorrow, but Doughty — a trustworthy tour guide through the repulsive and wondrous world of death — keeps us laughing." Entertainment Weekly

"Morbid and illuminating" (Entertainment Weekly) — a young mortician goes behind the scenes of her curious profession.

Caitlin Doughty is a licensed mortician and the host and creator of the "Ask a Mortician" web series. She founded the death acceptance collective The Order of the Good Death and cofounded Death Salon. She lives in Los Angeles.