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.
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 * *
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