They are not as dreadful as you may think.
Like most people, I am not a fan of death. The two books I am recommending were sent to me by two separate friends — one who works with the dying (nurse) and the other experienced a close sibling's death as a teen.
The differences in my friends’ experiences with death are also reflected in the two authors' disparate perspectives: a male doctor dying of cancer and a woman who is a morbid-curious mortician.
Oddly, my nurse friend shared the inspiring last words of the doctor, while my other friend, who lost her brother at 18 years old, sent me the entertaining words of the woman who made a career out of caring for the dead. We all handle death differently. Nonetheless, these two books and their differing perspectives will ultimately bring a sense of peace and possibly inspiration (or relief?). I’ll start with the “lighter” text first.
- Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty
Caitlin is one hell of a writer and has a capsule of extremely morbid experiences to share. Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory had it all: I shrieked, gagged, giggled, groaned, and cried. Maybe it was facing death and what comes after (or at least what comes after to our physical bodies)…
