The critically acclaimed account of Caitlin Doughty's first year working on the funerary frontlines
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'Unforgettable . . . a hilarious, poignant and impassioned plea to revolutionise our attitudes to death' Gavin Francis, Guardian
From her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, twenty-three-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about she started to wonder about the lives of those she cremated and the mourning families they left behind, and found herself confounded by people's erratic reactions to death. Exploring our death rituals - and those of other cultures - she pleads the case for healthier attitudes around death and dying. Full of bizarre encounters, gallows humour and vivid characters (both living and very dead), this illuminating account makes this otherwise terrifying subject inviting and fascinating.
“A zingy, fresh and possibly even important book about death . . . This book might change your life”
Evening Standard
Upbeat, brave and brilliantly, morbidly curious . . . Important and timely Sunday Times
A well-researched, beautifully observed book and Doughty is a convincing and impassioned advocate for changes in our cultural attitudes towards death . . . There's much to enjoy in this thoughtful, unflinching and highly entertaining memoir Observer
Absolutely and utterly life affirming . . . Nothing is off limits . . . And yet all of it is written with the utmost respect . . . There are many moments that moved me . . . Doughty's language is full of the notion of care Scotsman
Funny but not flippant, sometimes painful, but rightly so, and always compelling Literary Review
Frank . . . philosophical . . . engaging and even wicked New York Times
Acerbic, hilarious, and thoughtful . . . Doughty's feisty but lovable personality shines through, and that would be enough for a decent memoir, but she does so much more here. The author uses her own life as a jumping off point in this beautifully crafted piece of writing, dovetailing her own observations with the work of psychologists, literary figures, industry professionals, philosophers, and religious leaders to argue coherently and convincingly that the impersonal, big business model of the funeral industry is robbing us of a vital component of the human experience. She argues that only by facing our mortality and becoming intimate with the idea of death can we live our lives to the fullest, and it's hard to argue with her Independent
Eye-opening, cringe-inducing, often hilarious, occasionally haunting, always insightful -- DAVID EAGLEMAN
Caitlin Doughty blows a huge matter-of-fact hole in the grim curtain of silence surrounding the death industry - and what a blessed relief that is. This book absolutely must be read, if only to remind all of us that exercise, organic food and plastic surgery only work up to a point. Doughty is my kind of death crusader - compassionate, unblinking and very, very funny -- MEG ROSOFF
Caitlin Doughty is not what I imagine a funeral director to be . . . she is funny, young and enthusiastic, the same characteristics that infuse her memoir Sunday Times
Caitlin Doughty was born and raised in Hawaii before gaining a degree in Medieval History from the University of Chicago. She currently lives in Los Angeles where she owns an alternative funeral home, Undertaking LA. She is the creator of the 'Ask a Mortician' web series, the founder of the death acceptance collective The Order of the Good Dead and co-founder of Death Salon.
The critically acclaimed account of Caitlin Doughty's first year working on the funerary frontlines. 'Unforgettable . . . a hilarious, poignant and impassioned plea to revolutionise our attitudes to death' Gavin Francis, Guardian From her first day at Westwind Cremation & Burial, twenty-three-year-old Caitlin Doughty threw herself into her curious new profession. Coming face-to-face with the very thing we go to great lengths to avoid thinking about she started to wonder about the lives of those she cremated and the mourning families they left behind, and found herself confounded by people's erratic reactions to death. Exploring our death rituals - and those of other cultures - she pleads the case for healthier attitudes around death and dying. Full of bizarre encounters, gallows humour and vivid characters (both living and very dead), this illuminating account makes this otherwise terrifying subject inviting and fascinating.
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