Glenna G. (keno) reviewed Dead Center: Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office on + 866 more book reviews
what an interesting book! behind the scenes stugg and the how's & whys. really thoughtful and unflinching. and the stories on 9/11 and the plane crash 578. very touching too.
Jo Anne C. (MOI) reviewed Dead Center: Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office on + 37 more book reviews
A fascinating memoir delving into the aftermath of the 9/11 WTC disaster, as well as life as a medicolegal investigator in New York. Solidly written and informative. Several terk-jerking moments.
Wendy R. (WMRod) reviewed Dead Center: Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office on + 171 more book reviews
Terrific book and a fascinating read! Shiya Ribowsky works for New York City's Medical Examiner's office, a gruesome but necessary job where he must determine if a person's death was accidental or intended (murder), or natural.... Especially compelling and heartbreaking since he was working when the terrorists flew the jets into the World Trade Center buildings, killing thousands of innocent people. It was Shiya's job to organize the identification those victims.
It's a really fascinating book!
From Amazon.com's review:
For fifteen years, Shiya Ribowsky worked as a medicolegal investigator in New York Citys medical examiners officethe largest, most sophisticated organization of its kind in the world. Utilizing his background in medicine, he led the investigations of more than eight thousand individual deaths, becoming a key figure in some of New Yorks most bizarre death cases and eventually taking charge of the largest forensic investigation ever attempted: identifying the dead in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedies.
Now, in this mesmerizing book, Ribowsky pulls back the curtain on the New York Citys medical examiners office, giving an enthralling, never-before-seen glimpse into death and the city. Born and raised in New York Citys orthodox Jewish community, Ribowsky seems an unlikely candidate for this macabre profession. Nevertheless he has forsaken a promising career of medical work with the living, descending instead into the realm of the dead, enticed by the challenge of confronting death on a daily basis. Taking you through the vermin-infested Bowery flophouses and posh Upper East Side apartments of the citys dead, Ribowsky explores in gruesome detail the skeletons that hang in the Big Apples closets. Combing through the autopsy room, he also exposes the grim secrets that only a scalpel and a dead body can tell and explains how forensic investigation does not merely solve crimesit saves lives.
But it is in the aftermath of September 11 that the MEs office is handed its biggest challenge: to identify as many of the fallen as possible. With poignant descriptions, Ribowsky provides a dramatic account of the offices diligent and unflappable work with the families of the victims, helping them emerge from the ashes of this tragedy while displaying the strength, grit, intelligence, and compassion that Americans expect from true New Yorkers.
At once compelling and heartbreaking, Dead Center is a story of New York unlike any other, blending the haunting with the sublime, while painting a striking portrait of death (and life) in the city that never sleeps.
It's a really fascinating book!
From Amazon.com's review:
For fifteen years, Shiya Ribowsky worked as a medicolegal investigator in New York Citys medical examiners officethe largest, most sophisticated organization of its kind in the world. Utilizing his background in medicine, he led the investigations of more than eight thousand individual deaths, becoming a key figure in some of New Yorks most bizarre death cases and eventually taking charge of the largest forensic investigation ever attempted: identifying the dead in the aftermath of the September 11 tragedies.
Now, in this mesmerizing book, Ribowsky pulls back the curtain on the New York Citys medical examiners office, giving an enthralling, never-before-seen glimpse into death and the city. Born and raised in New York Citys orthodox Jewish community, Ribowsky seems an unlikely candidate for this macabre profession. Nevertheless he has forsaken a promising career of medical work with the living, descending instead into the realm of the dead, enticed by the challenge of confronting death on a daily basis. Taking you through the vermin-infested Bowery flophouses and posh Upper East Side apartments of the citys dead, Ribowsky explores in gruesome detail the skeletons that hang in the Big Apples closets. Combing through the autopsy room, he also exposes the grim secrets that only a scalpel and a dead body can tell and explains how forensic investigation does not merely solve crimesit saves lives.
But it is in the aftermath of September 11 that the MEs office is handed its biggest challenge: to identify as many of the fallen as possible. With poignant descriptions, Ribowsky provides a dramatic account of the offices diligent and unflappable work with the families of the victims, helping them emerge from the ashes of this tragedy while displaying the strength, grit, intelligence, and compassion that Americans expect from true New Yorkers.
At once compelling and heartbreaking, Dead Center is a story of New York unlike any other, blending the haunting with the sublime, while painting a striking portrait of death (and life) in the city that never sleeps.
Juanita F. (legal22) -
Wonderful inside look of the NYC Medical Examiner's Office. Shiya Ribowsky planned and set up a first rate response team to the horrific 9/11 attacks and worked on it for three years. Very, very interesting book.
