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

Strange and funny. It may well blow your mind wide open

Flavorwire

[Doughty's] sincere, hilarious, and perhaps life-altering memoir is a must-read for anyone who plans on dying

Booklist

Arresting . . . refreshing . . . riveting

Grazia

Timely, funny, honest and interesting, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is an enormously helpful contribution to the current taboo-breaking debate about death
Virginia Ironside With the dark wit you might expect from an undertaker and the compassion and insight you might not, strong storytelling and vivid descriptions, she displays a protective mechanism that the psychologists seem to have forgotten - humour

New Scientist

Brave and fascinating . . . unusually funny

Daily Mail

A death-changing book . . . It is impossible not to be inspired by Doughty's commitment to her cause

The Times

Often funny . . . yet never irreverent

Irish Sunday Independent

A book as graphic and morbid as this one could easily suck its readers into a bout of sorrow, but Doughty - a trustworthy tour guide through the repulsive and wondrous world of death - keeps us laughing most of the way

Washington Post

There's a welcome honesty to Doughty's account of her time as a mortician, which starts when she has to shave the face of her first corpse. In some ways, it's reassuring that we return to dust, and Doughty's healthy humour and practicality are reassuring too

Glasgow Sunday Herald

There's something about her understanding of how fragile life can be that got to me . . . And although none of us wants to be confronted by that all the time, Doughty has a matter-of-factness that makes that not as scary as it usually seems

Scotland on Sunday

Doughty writes about her life with corpses with all the sassiness that other young women bring to penning romcoms

Mail on Sunday

Doughty is determined to lead the way in confronting mortality. Indeed, she does not so much meet Death's gaze as attempt to stare him into submission...Doughty's corpse-collecting adventures are often hilarious as well as informing. If you had not planned to pack a book about crematoria for your holiday read, this one offers plenty of reasons to reconsider

Financial Times

A highly unusual memoir . . . a manifesto for how to live - and die - better. Caitlin, with her no-nonsense style and absolute single-mindedness plus a healthy dose of goth sensibility, bravely shows that death is nothing to be afraid of

Twin Magazine

Truly riveting . . . this funerally forthright book rings with life and dead-pan humour . . . Having read her brilliant contribution to the death debate, I'm with her all the way to the cremation chamber (and I'd let her push the button)

Bookseller, Book of the Month