Most people talk about death as if it's a friend they kind of know but have heard some bad things about — in hushed tones, as though giving voice to those transgressions means that death would rub off on them in some weird way. And it does! To wit: Local doyenne of the dead and “Ask a Mortician” web series host Caitlin Doughty presents her mellifluously morbid memoir, Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons From the Crematory. Taking a job in a crematory on a whim, Doughty found herself immersed in a world about which few know or care — despite the fact that death is that singular stoplight toward which everyone ultimately hurtles. One of the fascinating Angelenos featured in the Weekly's 2014 People issue, Doughty details everything from stray human ashes on her clothes to the shaving of the dead to the accidental death of a toddler she witnessed as a child. Good times. Skylight Books, 1818 N. Vermont Ave., Los Feliz; Tue., Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m.; free, book is $24.95. (323) 660-1175, skylightbooks.com.

Tue., Sept. 16, 7:30 p.m., 2014
(Expired: 09/16/14)

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