Dear Lit Lovers,
How's your fall going? Mine's going well even though the leaves and cooler weather really haven't occurred down here in Georgia yet. That's the part I miss about living in North Carolina. I did order some recent memoirs to read and the review title of this blog probably grabbed your attention. I ordered Working Stiff by Dr. Judy Melinek and T. J. Mitchell (her husband). This author chronicles her experience working as a medical examiner in the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in New York. Some people asked me upon hearing or seeing that I'm reading this book, if I just liked the macabre or do I like depressing reads. Well, let me tell you that after seeing cancer at its worst in several friends and loved ones, this book was a breeze and quite informative. I love medicine and I really found it interesting that a medical examiner can tell so much about a person's story (life experience) just from performing an autopsy! I'm serious! If you smoked every day your entire life, your lungs will be charcoal black. If you were an alcoholic, your liver will not lie to the medical examiner. And interestingly, it's amazing what a medical examiner can piece together from a crime scene by just doing an autopsy of a body.
I think the most difficult parts to read and understand for me in this book were when the medical examiner discusses having to do an autopsy on a person who commits suicide. The author's father committed suicide when he was thirty-eight years old. And I do think that played a part in why she chose to proceed into the field of forensic pathology. If you've ever witnessed a medical examiner on the stand during a trial, let me tell you, they know what the dead person experienced. They can tell you if the death was quick; they get to the bottom of what caused a person's death and how a person died; and what I liked most was the idea that this doctor felt that oftentimes, it was up to her to help speak for someone who may have died needlessly or in an especially traumatic manner. Cause really, when it comes down to it, when a homicide happens only the victim and the assailant know what really happened until the body arrives to the medical examiner.
It was also moving to discover that the author was one of many medical examiner's who took part in identifying the remains of victims from the 9/11 attacks on September 11th, 2001. This woman was actually on her way to work the morning of September 11th and saw the first plane that hit the World Trade Center Towers. She knew something was amiss because the plane was flying entirely too low. She discusses how they had to basically set up an outside morgue under tents in their office parking lot and continually receive bodies from the trade center site in body bags. And that often didn't mean receiving an intact whole body. These folks were meticulously sorting through bones, muscle, teeth, etc. trying to find any sort of evidence that might be utilized to help identify an individual lost in this disastrous event. And I had no idea of the enormous effort it took to do this job. Those of us watching from afar or via television didn't see all the behind the scenes work that was going on to help identify all the remains left behind or help bring some peace to all the families that lost someone in this tragic event.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. You should definitely pick it up, not assume the worst, and give it a read. I found it quite informative and I have a whole new profound respect for doctors of forensic pathology because of this book!
Till my next read!
Grace
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