Caitlin Doughty: Book 2

I just finished reading Caitlin Doughty's new book From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. Published this year, it's Doughty's second book about how we respond to death.  Doughty isn't talking much about our emotional reaction to death, but rather the customs and business of death. Her first book Smoke Gets In Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory (2015) was her up-close view of the cremation industry in the United States.

From Here to Eternity is a loving look at death customs, new and old, that are practiced around the world and that Doughty was able to visit and in some instances participate in. She begins and ends the book with examples of new trends in natural burials in the United States including outdoor funeral pyres and natural decomposition. In between she visits old customs of honoring the dead in Indonesia, Bolivia, and Mexico and new customs in Japan and Spain.

Throughout it all, Doughty is practical and straightforward about the question of what to do with all these bodies, but she also brings a sense of wonder and respect for customs that may seem outlandish to some. For instance, living with the dead body of a family member for several years after they have died, as is sometimes done in the South Sulawesi region of Indonesia, or collecting the heads of the dead and keeping them on display in areas of La Paz, Bolivia.

Of course, Doughty also has a sense of humor about it all. I've heard it said that most morticians do have a wonderful sense of humor about death and, yes, Doughty now owns her own nonprofit funeral home (in Smoke Gets In Your Eyes she was working at a crematory and hoped to have her own one day) where she offers cremation and natural funerals with un-embalmed bodies.

What I like most about Doughty's books are that they allow me to ponder how I would like my body treated after I die without feeling morbid. Most people don't want to think about this, but she describes death rituals that are so very loving, you'll want one too. Doughty is out to change how we think and talk about death and I'm looking forward to watching her do it.