Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

Armed with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre, Caitlin Doughty took a job at a crematory and turned morbid curiosity into her life’s work. She cared for bodies of every color, shape, and affliction, and became an intrepid explorer in the world of the dead. In this best-selling memoir, brimming with gallows humor and vivid characters, she marvels at the gruesome history of undertaking and relates her unique coming-of-age story with bold curiosity and mordant wit. By turns hilarious, dark, and uplifting, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes reveals how the fear of dying warps our society and "will make you reconsider how our culture treats the dead" (San Francisco Chronicle).

These book club questions are from the publisher, W.W. Norton.

Book club questions for Smoke Gets in Your Eyes by Caitlin Doughty

Use these discussion questions to guide your next book club meeting.

What was the most "death-changing" fact you learned from Smoke Gets in Your Eyes?

Do you discuss your end-of-life wishes with friends and family? Are there stories in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes that have changed the way you feel about those wishes or your plans to share them with others?

To what extent do you think entrenched thinking—laws, customs, taboos—has informed the way you think about end-of-life care? What has reading Smoke Gets in Your Eyes revealed to you about those learned behaviors?

Did you find the history of the American death industry surprising? Are its origins and its current state something you've thought about? Something you took for granted?

What does death positivity mean to you? How could that meaning be different for different people and societies?

What constitutes quality of life for an individual? Could there ever be said to be a standard? How does this question influence how we treat death in this country?

Did you find some material in Smoke Gets in Your Eyes challenging to read? How have those passages contributed to your thinking about death?

How do you think the media should address death and bodies when covering tragedies? What influence does the media have over the way we think about death today?

What resources do you turn to in order to help guide your thinking about death and end-of-life choices? What resources do you turn to help guide your thinking about death and end-of-life choices? (See below for a list of resources recommended by Caitlin.

If you could ask Caitlin one question after reading the book, what would it be?

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes Book Club Questions PDF

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