Imagine an academic Vampira with a blog and a sense of humor and you've got Caitlin Doughty. This memoir is dark, insightful, morbid, and laugh out loud funny. It's not for the faint of heart covering such topics such as: dead babies, embalming, burning bodies, and human decay, but damn is it interesting! Caitlin turned one of her greatest childhood fears, death, into her life ambition; ensuring that people are well educated and comfortable with their inevitable demise. After graduating with a degree in medieval history she decided that working in the funeral industry was the next step logically. Caitlin chronicles her time working in a crematory, going to mortuary school, driving dead bodies around California, and starting her internet forum, "The Order of the Good Death." Humorous, yet respectful, Caitlin's look at the funeral industry will have you questioning everything you ever thought about death.
I was lucky enough to meet the author twice in Las Vegas this summer at a Library convention. I can confirm that she is as humorous in person as she is in writing. A fantastic read (though not for the faint of heart).
