Life in a Coroners Office by John Temple - Book Report/Review Example

The author draws on his journalistic experience as a staff writer with Pittsburgh Tribune and Tampa Tribune to combine creative and reporting skills to present facts in the form of fiction to the vast population of readers worldwide who are curious about the goings-on in the morgue but shudder at the thought of taking a look themselves. (http://www.curledup.com/deadhous.htm) The book has all the elements of suspense and drama along with the sedative presence of medical officers and investigators with the eagle's eyes to extricate details with clinical precision and expertise from mundane objects around and including the corpse.

The deputies at the coroner's officer, viz. Ed Strimlan, Mike Chickwak, and Tiffany Hunt decide as a team whether the mortal remains of each body brought in died as a result of natural causes, accident, murder, suicide, or for any other known or mysterious reasons. Two new recruits, Tracy and Carey, two female interns who have just started out with their first day at the morgue have already witnessed a couple of autopsies. (http://www.upress.state.ms.us/books/266) For anyone keen on learning how to fit.

Journalistic lessons and challengesFor anyone keen on learning how to fictionalize a factual report, Deadhouse is the right book. It just about provides enough medical exposure to the lay reader with scene descriptions and narrations without resorting to academic elaborations. It, however, provides the right impetus for those keen on taking up medicine as a career. To a critic, Deadhouse may be a disappointment in that it could have delved deeper into the medical and legal aspects of the autopsy.

However, the book was not intended for critics. Ethical and Legal issuesAs a novel, Deadhouse is a unique work of fiction that essentially interweaves plot, emotion, and drama. Except for the issues of plagiarism or intentional character assassination, there is little that microscopic scanning of the book can throw up to resolve any ethical or legal violation. Obviously there has been no scope for plagiarism or character assassination. ConclusionOnce in a while, a work of art transforms mundane routine into absorbing reality.

Deadhouse: Life in a Coroner's Office chronicles something inherently a part of every individual's destiny. The author has simply come across an ore and has cut and polished it to produce a diamond. This masterpiece must definitely find a place among the archives of excellence.