• Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

  • And Other Lessons from the Crematory
  • By: Caitlin Doughty
  • Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
  • Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (8,637 ratings)

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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes  By  cover art

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

By: Caitlin Doughty
Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
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Publisher's summary

Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty - a 20-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. With an original voice that combines fearless curiosity and mordant wit, Caitlin tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters, gallows humor, and vivid characters (both living and very dead). Describing how she swept ashes from the machines (and sometimes onto her clothes), and cared for bodies of all shapes and sizes, Caitlin becomes an intrepid explorer in the world of the deceased. Her eye-opening memoir shows how our fear of dying warps our culture and society, and she calls for better ways of dealing with death (and our dead). In the spirit of her popular Web series, "Ask a Mortician", Caitlin’s engaging narrative style makes this otherwise scary topic both approachable and profound.

Caitlin Doughty, the host and creator of the "Ask a Mortician" Web series and the collective Order of the Good Death, is on a mission to change the way we think about death.

©2014 Caitlin Doughty (P)2014 Recorded Books

Featured Article: A Future Corpse's Guide to Death Acceptance


Confronting death does not necessitate a spiral into despondency. Instead we may come a realization that, in acknowledging and accepting this fate, we paradoxically lead fuller and more emotionally present lives. In this list, scholars, physicians, journalists, philosophers, and death professionals share their stories, perspectives, and advice, offering a glimpse into how we can prepare for the end with grace, heart, and humor.

What listeners say about Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

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  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
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    5 out of 5 stars

Loved it So Much I Bought it After Reading it Free

Any additional comments?

I listened to this audiobook for free from my library, and it resonated with me so much I came back and bought it here at Audible. I would describe this book as gorgeous. Caitlin's raw, emotional, funny, and heartfelt stories about her experiences with death will move you. You will begin thinking about death and the funeral industry in different ways, and that's a good thing.

Something wonderful that Caitlin does throughout her story is reinforce the idea that you're not "weird" if you're drawn to death, (This historic cemetery tour guide thanks you to remember that) and in fact, a realistic understanding of death as a part of life is healthy, and even necessary. Caitlin spent an early part of her life terrified by death, and it wasn't until she began accepting it that she could move on.

I love that she's revolutionizing the funeral industry. She's letting people know that there's nothing inherently dangerous about dead bodies. She's dispelling the notion that it's somehow illegal for families to care for their own dead. She's waving frantically behind the funeral director trying to sell bereaved and vulnerable people a 25k funeral. She's reassuring you that if you need a little more time - an hour, an evening, a day - to say goodbye, you can have that.

She's taking us out of the white vans, body bags, concrete burial vaults, and overpriced caskets, and putting us back into the earth where we can continue to feed the planet, and live on as energy forever.

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83 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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MUST read

If you could sum up Smoke Gets in Your Eyes in three words, what would they be?

realities of death

What did you like best about this story?

Ms. Doughty is genuine and caring, graphic and honest about a subject that is often presented very clinically or euphemistically, when presented at all.

What about Caitlin Doughty’s performance did you like?

I prefer memoirs that are read by their authors because tone of voice, even when reading a well-written book, communicates so many nuances of meaning. She told her story well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I could not get enough of this book. I was so disappointed to reach its end.

Any additional comments?

Everyone should read this book. Its vital message is presented so well that everyone will enjoy it too.

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49 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Really Great to Listen to.

Would you consider the audio edition of Smoke Gets in Your Eyes to be better than the print version?

I've never read the print version, but I really liked this as audio, it reminded me of listening to stories on NPR. I Listened to it everyday on my way to work, or when I was doing random stuff around the house. It was nice to be able to hear it and be transported away from the task at hand.

What does Caitlin Doughty bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

It was nice to hear her read it. I'm an avid fan of Ask a Mortician, so it just made sense to not just read it myself but hear it from her point of view. It really sends home that this was her experience and just a random work of fiction.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I never wanted to get out of my car, I'd get to work and sit there until the very last second before I would become tardy.

Any additional comments?

This was my first purchase on Audible and it really turned me on to listening to audio books on my commute instead of random radio. Check out The Order of the Good Death too, all of Doughty's stuff is awesome!

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40 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Honest details about mortality can help

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes is a quirky, slightly odd memoir that is exactly what the title says. I think the author's basic premise is truthful, that we are out of touch with our own mortality, and reading this book with its intimate details of death and decay may help lessen that denial. I would advise being sure you want to read about those sometimes disturbing but truthful details of what happens after death, how corpses are prepared for traditional funerals, and what exactly happens during cremation. I welcomed the honesty, but I know that others might not.

While I appreciated the parts about working in the crematory and current funeral practices, some of the author's writing about her personal life was disjointed and felt out of place with the rest of the book. Her contemplation of suicide and obsession with Luke bothered me more than decomposition and sweeping out the cremation machines. When I told a friend I was reading this, she thought it sounded morbid and ghoulish, which illustrates Doughty's point fairly well. Death will happen for all of us, and it won't be morbid or ghoulish if we learn more and talk about it. This book can help with that.

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36 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Didn't want it to end.

I've never been so happy with an author-narrated book. She's phenomenal. The book is beautiful, honest, and filled me with hope & positive feelings about a subject I've always been terrified of.

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23 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Too much fluff and repetition

The book has fewer facts and information about death and cremation than I would have liked. There is too much of the author's personal story in it-- her childhood, her love life (or lack thereof) -- and too much unfocused and repetitive talk about death generally.
How many ways can the author say "we need to change our relationship with death and understand and accept what happens to corpses?" I think the author found them all.
The book could have been 30% as long with no substantive loss.

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22 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Revealing but I was hoping for more!

Where does Smoke Gets in Your Eyes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

The author narration was well done.

What did you like best about this story?

The interesting facts about the industry.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book was pretty even keel the whole time. I did laugh once or twice.

Any additional comments?

This was an interesting book but I was hoping for more. It is more of a story about the author's job experiences in the death industry and less about making death "real" and tangible for the general population. I wanted to read the book after hearing an NPR interview with the author--I liked the purpose she had for writing it. To change the way the death industry works and the way people deal with death and dead bodies. I came away from this book being about as informed as I was after listening to the radio interview, and no more. On the radio she speaks about having home wakes for example, but there is very little discussion of this in the book and no description about how one would go about it. I would have at least liked to be informed of my options and ways to pursue them.

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not an eye opener

This book was highly recommend by a good friend. It is narrated very well, but I didn't find it to be intriguing; instead I was always left wondering what the point of this dragged out story was. I'd say pass and find something else.

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19 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Important Book on Confronting Mortality

What made the experience of listening to Smoke Gets in Your Eyes the most enjoyable?

Despite the subject matter being dark and difficult, Doughty makes it accessible through her humour, candid demeanor, and extensive knowledge of the subject matter.

What about Caitlin Doughty’s performance did you like?

She is a gifted reader and her wit and humour come out even more vividly hearing her speak her own words.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There are too many to list, but I was consistently moved by following along with Doughty's own emotional journey as she discovers more and more ways that we are disconnected from death, and by extension, disconnected from life itself.

Any additional comments?

Doughty's passion for the subject matter comes through clearly and effectively. She brilliantly weaves the history death in with her own personal experiences in the contemporary death industry.

Her argument for changing the way we interact with own mortality is a powerful challenge.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

death should not be a mystery

loved this book and the insight it provides. covering the reality behind the curtain and the misinformation often given to grieving people

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12 people found this helpful