Important Work

Down Among the Dead Men tells one woman's experience as a mortuary technician from day one. It's gritty in some chapters (hard to get around that) but the author writes very respectfully of her coworkers and the people who require her services. She balances her work life and her personal relationships and writes very engagingly, making this an interesting read from start to finish.

What Once Was

There was a recent news story that mentioned the Book-Cadillac Hotel of Detroit. The name intrigued me, so I checked out David Kohrman's Detroit's Statler and Book-Cadillac Hotels to find out its story. The book begins with the Hotel Statler, built on Washington Boulevard in 1915. It has plenty of photos documenting the conception and rise of the building, as well as vintage interior shots. The Book-Cadillac, built in 1924, was the tallest hotel in the world. It is named after the three Book brothers and, like the Statler, had a private bath in each guest room--ultimate in luxury for the time! While the Statler sits vacant, neglected, and decaying today, the Book Cadillac has been restored and is one of Detroit's finest hotels.