This book club NOW meets one WEDNESDAY each month to talk books, socialize, and kick back with a cold one. Meetings take place at Arbor Brewing Plymouth Taproom located at 777 W. Ann Arbor Trail Plymouth, MI 48170 in Downtown Plymouth.
Books for the current month’s selection may be obtained from the Reader’s Advisory desk on the main level of the Library. New members are always welcome!
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"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory" by Caitlin Doughty (2014)
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.
Her eye-opening, candid, and often hilarious story is like going on a journey with your bravest friend to the cemetery at midnight. She demystifies death, leading us behind the black curtain of her unique profession. And she answers questions you didn’t know you had: Can you catch a disease from a corpse? How many dead bodies can you fit in a Dodge van? What exactly does a flaming skull look like?
Honest and heartfelt, self-deprecating and ironic, Caitlin's engaging style makes this otherwise taboo topic both approachable and engrossing. Now a licensed mortician with an alternative funeral practice, Caitlin argues that our fear of dying warps our culture and society, and she calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead).