And instead of being horrified by it, all I wanted to do was tell people about it and let people know what would happen to their mother when she was cremated or buried or embalmed. Death used to be much more of a reality in daily life and therefore much easier to discuss and confront.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? by Caitlin Doughty | Waterstones

Doughty says many of the Viking funerals you see on TV — cue “Game of Thrones” — aren’t the real deal. The book can be especially helpful for parents or caregivers who are looking for ways to talk to children about death and dying in a way that is not overly scary or intimidating.Doughty thinks the best way to come to terms with this fact is to regularly discuss and seek understanding about death. If you’ve ever wondered what would happen to an astronaut if they died in space, whether or not you can keep the skull of a loved one, why does the human body undergo all those wonderful colour changes after death, and most importantly… will your cat (or dog) eat your eyeballs when you die?

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: And Other Questions About Dead

Each woman faces challenges that test the limits of their friendship, from addiction and infidelity to toxic relationships, grief and betrayal. Doughty blends her mortician’s knowledge of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to thirty-five distinctive questions posed by her youngest fans. That's actually one of our biggest questions that we ask on our cremation forum is did mom have a pacemaker? While reading this, I could actually see one of my kids visiting the library asking me or one of their parents some of these questions, and I am pretty darn glad I know the answers now.His portraits of them were so perfect, it was as if he could see the sap flowing beneath their bark. People don’t necessarily like it when I use the word ‘control’, but I personally like it because I think that’s what happened to me. You’re never going to get over it, no matter what, but you remember the experience with a sort of melancholic, whimsical engagement. She has written two other books about death: her 2014 memoir Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, and 2018’s From Here to Eternity, about death rituals around the world. If we are left with no other options, we will have to amputate their legs below the knees to make them fit.

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? (Doughty) - LitLovers Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? (Doughty) - LitLovers

The endeavor and motivation of the author to talk about death openly is very important because it weakens faith and makes people realize how short and fragile life is and to probably awaken more awareness and mindfulness. Perhaps at some point in the future scientists will figure out how to upload our memories into machines and thus grant us immortality, but as of now, sorry, no can do.Reading these has had me thinking about my own late mother's death, and my own eventual one, in a less-fraught way, so, good. Another excellent book by California mortician and death geek Doughty on her favorite subject, this one in the form of candid answers to frank questions she has fielded from youngsters over the years on the subject of death. Her investigations of ritual, custom, law and science are thorough, and she doesn’t shy from naming the parts of Grandma’s body that might leak after she is gone. I mean, death in general is of course not very funny, but Doughty is witty and uses both humor as well as scientific facts to answer the burning questions we all have, like 'What would happen if you swallowed a bag of popcorn before you died and were cremated?

Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And other Questions Editions of Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And other Questions

Those who have read Caitlin Doughty's previous books know her talent for taking the usually bleak and depressing subject of death and turning it into something entertaining. Now featuring an interview with a clinical expert on discussing these issues with young people—the source of some of our most revealing questions about death— Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? I suggest everyone read this book so that we can learn a lot about death, dying, and the funeral industry.As well as the kookier queries, her videos also include “ Helping a Friend Through Grief” and “ Overcoming Death Denial in Your Family”. The author has a way of making you a little less fearful of death with her humor, explanations, and positive outlook. There's no deflesh and keep his skull on the mantelpiece or taxidermy him or give him a Viking funeral.