Down Among the Dead Men: A Year in the Life of a Mortuary Technician

Books

This deeply original and "entertaining memoir" pulls back the curtain on life at the morgue-introducing a colorful cast of characters you won't soon forget (Booklist). "Williams's reminiscence does more than delight in the creepy and the ghoulish; it breathes life into the mortuary workers themselves." -The Brooklyn Rail Michelle Williams is young and attractive, with close family ties, a busy social life . . . and an unusual occupation. When she impulsively applies to be a mortuary technician and is offered the position, she has no idea that her decision to accept will be one of the most momentous of her life. "What I didn't realize then," she writes, "was that I was about to start one of the most amazing jobs you can do." To Williams, life in the mortuary is neither grim nor frightening. She introduces readers to a host of unique characters: pathologists (many eccentric, some utterly crazy), undertakers, and the man from the coroner's office who sings to her every morning. No two days are alike, and ...