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Coroner's Journal: Forensics and the Art of Stalking Death
During Hurricane Katrina, Dr. Louis Cataldie remained in New Orleans in dangerous and often unbearable conditions to attend to the sick, the injured-and the dead. As chief coroner of Baton Rouge, tending to the dead is Cataldie's job. A little town with big-city problems, Baton Rouge means "Red Stick"-and lives up to its bloody name. Cataldie has faced unusual and disturbing cases, from tracking three serial killers on the loose simultaneously while working the scene of a Malvo/ Muhammad Beltway Sniper shooting, to helping apprehend Baton Rouge serial killer Derrick Todd Lee in a controversial case that was featured in an ABC Primetime Live special with Diane Sawyer and Patricia Cornwell.
Cataldie's maverick ways have made him a favorite target of the media, but he offers no apologies, and speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. Graphic and frank, this is his unique, up-close look at his life spent stalking death in the Deep South.
Cataldie's maverick ways have made him a favorite target of the media, but he offers no apologies, and speaks for those who cannot speak for themselves. Graphic and frank, this is his unique, up-close look at his life spent stalking death in the Deep South.
336 pages, Paperback
First published March 16, 2006
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2542 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
March 20, 2023
„Brutalnie szczery i pozbawiony upiększeń zapis pracy koronera.” mówi okładka. Pozwolę sobie się z nią nie zgodzić.
Autor upiększa, i to sporo. Nie zawód, nie sprawy, przy których pracował, ale siebie. Przez cały czas słuchania audiobooka miałam wrażenie, że to autolaurka. I zamiast dobrej literatury faktu dostałam kilka godzin przechwałek. Sam temat zgonów został potraktowany dość powierzchownie.
Nie ma co się rozpisywać. Nie podobało mi się i tyle.
Autor upiększa, i to sporo. Nie zawód, nie sprawy, przy których pracował, ale siebie. Przez cały czas słuchania audiobooka miałam wrażenie, że to autolaurka. I zamiast dobrej literatury faktu dostałam kilka godzin przechwałek. Sam temat zgonów został potraktowany dość powierzchownie.
Nie ma co się rozpisywać. Nie podobało mi się i tyle.
July 3, 2012
Hi, here I am again, Ms. Morbid. This time, I've read a book written by a coroner. And I loved it.
I've actually owned this book for several years without reading it. I'm sure glad that I finally did. The title of the book says it all. Louis Cataldie was the coroner of East Baton Rouge parish for a number of years. During that time, he kept a daily journal. The end result is this book, where he has compiled his journal notes into a more cohesive, readable format.
I thought the book was organized very well. Cataldie covers a wide variety of his cases, grouped into chapters based on topic. For example, there is a chapter on unusual accidents, one on suicides, and one on murder. There is another based on child deaths. Of interest to note is that, in Louisiana, the coroner not only investigates deaths, but also rape cases and is, additionally, in charge of involuntary mental institution commitments. Therefore, he has a chapter on working with the mentally ill.
Cataldie seems like a really interesting person. I think it would be fun to get to know him. In addition to his work as a coroner, he helped form a suicide survivors task force. They arrive on-scene in the early aftermath of a suicide, to help those left behind. He also was one of the first people called into New Orleans in the wake of Katrina (his opening chapter is about this).
Lastly, if you're a serial killer buff, Cataldie was the coroner during not one but TWO of Baton Rouge's serial killer cases, including the famous one that pretty much everyone has heard of. He talks about both of those cases.
If you're a fan of the morbid like me, I think you'll like this one. It's a very easy and interesting read.
I've actually owned this book for several years without reading it. I'm sure glad that I finally did. The title of the book says it all. Louis Cataldie was the coroner of East Baton Rouge parish for a number of years. During that time, he kept a daily journal. The end result is this book, where he has compiled his journal notes into a more cohesive, readable format.
I thought the book was organized very well. Cataldie covers a wide variety of his cases, grouped into chapters based on topic. For example, there is a chapter on unusual accidents, one on suicides, and one on murder. There is another based on child deaths. Of interest to note is that, in Louisiana, the coroner not only investigates deaths, but also rape cases and is, additionally, in charge of involuntary mental institution commitments. Therefore, he has a chapter on working with the mentally ill.
Cataldie seems like a really interesting person. I think it would be fun to get to know him. In addition to his work as a coroner, he helped form a suicide survivors task force. They arrive on-scene in the early aftermath of a suicide, to help those left behind. He also was one of the first people called into New Orleans in the wake of Katrina (his opening chapter is about this).
Lastly, if you're a serial killer buff, Cataldie was the coroner during not one but TWO of Baton Rouge's serial killer cases, including the famous one that pretty much everyone has heard of. He talks about both of those cases.
If you're a fan of the morbid like me, I think you'll like this one. It's a very easy and interesting read.
October 5, 2011
I have to say, I really should be more careful about the order of my reading material. This wasn't the best book to read almost directly after Dead Man Walking. It's hard to maintain deep thoughts regarding whether the death penalty is right or wrong when I'm reading about the horrendous murders Cataldie has witnessed in his career.
This is a wonderfully written book. It reminds me of Ann Rule's true crime books, where she has four or five stories in one novel. My biggest complaint about true crime is there's too damn much detail. I don't want to know what size shoe the victim wore, or how much she paid for coffee the day she died. Stop telling me the First Responder's life story. Tell me the crime, tell me who dunnit, tell me the trial. And shut up.
With this, we got tidbits of so many cases. The opening chapter, about Hurricane Katrina, hurt quite a lot. The stories involving children, especially the four year old shot by his aunt's estranged husband, brought me to tears with one sentence. The two children caught in the house fire? Don't get me started. I read this at work. A serious mistake.
I have very real respect for Dr. Cataldie. If I were to be murdered, I want someone to call him to investigate, over an hour from his jurisdiction. The heart and strength he puts into his job is apparent through each chapter. He doesn't get overly sentimental, but he lets his emotions show through from case to case, whether it's anger at the killer, or sorrow at the survivors' pain.
This is a wonderfully written book. It reminds me of Ann Rule's true crime books, where she has four or five stories in one novel. My biggest complaint about true crime is there's too damn much detail. I don't want to know what size shoe the victim wore, or how much she paid for coffee the day she died. Stop telling me the First Responder's life story. Tell me the crime, tell me who dunnit, tell me the trial. And shut up.
With this, we got tidbits of so many cases. The opening chapter, about Hurricane Katrina, hurt quite a lot. The stories involving children, especially the four year old shot by his aunt's estranged husband, brought me to tears with one sentence. The two children caught in the house fire? Don't get me started. I read this at work. A serious mistake.
I have very real respect for Dr. Cataldie. If I were to be murdered, I want someone to call him to investigate, over an hour from his jurisdiction. The heart and strength he puts into his job is apparent through each chapter. He doesn't get overly sentimental, but he lets his emotions show through from case to case, whether it's anger at the killer, or sorrow at the survivors' pain.
June 4, 2021
In my experience, these types of coroner's memoirs (and there are several from the aughts) tend to fall into one of two categories: they're either people memoirs or they're procedure memoirs. Cataldie's Coroner's Journal falls firmly into the first category.
Sure, technical details about what a coroner working under Louisiana's frankly archaic laws does, the day to day minutia, but Cataldie is much more interested in evoking emotion for the victims than he is in talking us through how exactly he pieces together the last moments of their lives. Which is good, I'd like to think that should I die under mysterious circumstances, that death would be investigated by people who think of me as a person as much as they think of me as a case, but it does mean that there's a great deal more pathos in these pages than in other, similarly marketed books.
Touching in places, full of solid Louisiana truisms, several of which I recognized from my own kinfolk from both sides of the Texas/Louisiana line, and opened with an absolutely raw account of his experiences in the Katrina/Rita aftermath (written in the midst of that aftermath), Cataldie's Coroner's Journal is not one to miss for those looking for their death investigator fix.
Sure, technical details about what a coroner working under Louisiana's frankly archaic laws does, the day to day minutia, but Cataldie is much more interested in evoking emotion for the victims than he is in talking us through how exactly he pieces together the last moments of their lives. Which is good, I'd like to think that should I die under mysterious circumstances, that death would be investigated by people who think of me as a person as much as they think of me as a case, but it does mean that there's a great deal more pathos in these pages than in other, similarly marketed books.
Touching in places, full of solid Louisiana truisms, several of which I recognized from my own kinfolk from both sides of the Texas/Louisiana line, and opened with an absolutely raw account of his experiences in the Katrina/Rita aftermath (written in the midst of that aftermath), Cataldie's Coroner's Journal is not one to miss for those looking for their death investigator fix.
January 29, 2009
This could have been a very interesting book, but Cataldie frequently leaves out the tidbits true crime readers want and instead engages in annoying navel gazing.
Patricia Cornwell encouraged him to write the book, but must have forgotten to tell him what it takes to keep a reader's attention. It took me a month and a half to get through the book, and it's not particularly long. Two thumbs down.
Patricia Cornwell encouraged him to write the book, but must have forgotten to tell him what it takes to keep a reader's attention. It took me a month and a half to get through the book, and it's not particularly long. Two thumbs down.
February 15, 2019
In East Baton Rouge Parish, an area of about 400 square miles, I investigate about 2,000 deaths a year—around 60 homicides, 30 suicides, and 150 traffic fatalities, most of which involve a person driving drunk or sleeping at the wheel. (24)
Cataldie, a doctor, spent ten years as a coroner in Baton Rouge. In addition to conducting autopsies, he was routinely called on scene to collect initial information about deaths.
Coroner's Journal details some of those experiences, things seen and learned and done. It feels a little dated in places, as when Cataldie suggests that rape victims include 'not only female but also homosexual-male rape victims' (26), or when there's a serial killer at large and he sees a young woman running alone in the evening and mentally berates her for being an idiot—as though, if the serial killer were to attack her, it would be her fault. But Cataldie also sees a part of the human experience that most of us don't. Deaths in city and countryside, in car accidents and in crack houses, only minutes after the fact and weeks or months later, when decomposition has set in.
For the most part Cataldie bounces from scene to scene, structuring them loosely around theme and relying heavily on journals he kept during his time on the job. The biggest thru-line is the pursuit of a serial killer who preyed on the area for an extended period of time. I think my preference would have been fewer cases, delved into in more detail. One of the reasons that that wasn't the case, I think, was that his involvement was sometimes limited, a brief in and out in the greater context of somebody's life and death. But I'd have loved a better sense of what a day in the life looked like for him—I wasn't sure, for example, how much of his time was spent working as a coroner on scene versus doing autopsies versus working as a doctor on unrelated cases. The material makes it really freaking interesting, but I'd probably start elsewhere in terms of grisly reading material. (Wondering now if I have enough books on the subject to make some kind of blood-guts-gore shelf...)
Some bits and pieces:
Michael, my youngest son, is another reason for keeping these journals. I want him to be able to understand what was going on in his family during his formative years. How many eleven-year-olds go tracking across the shopping mall to describe the "splatter pattern" of a leaky garbage can that has been moved across the floor? "Look, Dad, they stopped here for a second—see how the drops fell straight down? They started back up this way, and hey, look, over here they started speeding up. I guess they figured out they had a leak, huh?" Kids do tend to listen to our conversations, don't they? (18)
My hometown, Alexandria, is in the center of the state—the ankle of the boot in a Louisiana map. It's a humdrum town that has never risen to its potential. But Alexandria, or, more accurately, the little town of Bunkie to the south, is (again, locally) considered to be the demarcation line between North and South. Welcome to the Deep South and the Deeper South. (26)
I was amazed to learn that maggots from a corpse can be put into a blender and made into a slurry—pathologists call it "the maggot milkshake"—that can tell us if the deceased was a drug user, and what drug was used. (35)
Cataldie, a doctor, spent ten years as a coroner in Baton Rouge. In addition to conducting autopsies, he was routinely called on scene to collect initial information about deaths.
Coroner's Journal details some of those experiences, things seen and learned and done. It feels a little dated in places, as when Cataldie suggests that rape victims include 'not only female but also homosexual-male rape victims' (26), or when there's a serial killer at large and he sees a young woman running alone in the evening and mentally berates her for being an idiot—as though, if the serial killer were to attack her, it would be her fault. But Cataldie also sees a part of the human experience that most of us don't. Deaths in city and countryside, in car accidents and in crack houses, only minutes after the fact and weeks or months later, when decomposition has set in.
For the most part Cataldie bounces from scene to scene, structuring them loosely around theme and relying heavily on journals he kept during his time on the job. The biggest thru-line is the pursuit of a serial killer who preyed on the area for an extended period of time. I think my preference would have been fewer cases, delved into in more detail. One of the reasons that that wasn't the case, I think, was that his involvement was sometimes limited, a brief in and out in the greater context of somebody's life and death. But I'd have loved a better sense of what a day in the life looked like for him—I wasn't sure, for example, how much of his time was spent working as a coroner on scene versus doing autopsies versus working as a doctor on unrelated cases. The material makes it really freaking interesting, but I'd probably start elsewhere in terms of grisly reading material. (Wondering now if I have enough books on the subject to make some kind of blood-guts-gore shelf...)
Some bits and pieces:
Michael, my youngest son, is another reason for keeping these journals. I want him to be able to understand what was going on in his family during his formative years. How many eleven-year-olds go tracking across the shopping mall to describe the "splatter pattern" of a leaky garbage can that has been moved across the floor? "Look, Dad, they stopped here for a second—see how the drops fell straight down? They started back up this way, and hey, look, over here they started speeding up. I guess they figured out they had a leak, huh?" Kids do tend to listen to our conversations, don't they? (18)
My hometown, Alexandria, is in the center of the state—the ankle of the boot in a Louisiana map. It's a humdrum town that has never risen to its potential. But Alexandria, or, more accurately, the little town of Bunkie to the south, is (again, locally) considered to be the demarcation line between North and South. Welcome to the Deep South and the Deeper South. (26)
I was amazed to learn that maggots from a corpse can be put into a blender and made into a slurry—pathologists call it "the maggot milkshake"—that can tell us if the deceased was a drug user, and what drug was used. (35)
February 24, 2023
To było... cóż, w porządku. Trochę chaotyczne, trochę próbuje przekazać zbyt dużo naraz i oczywiście najlepsze zostawiliśmy na koniec i te kilka ostatnich rozdziałów znacząco podniosły moją opinię o tej książce. Osobiście wolałabym, żeby skupiła się na kilku dużych sprawach, niż tysiącu pomniejszych, bo wiele z nich jest wspomnianych bardzo pobieżnie.
Przez cały czas denerwował mnie taki wydźwięk: "gdzie to ja nie byłem, ile to ja autopsji nie przeprowadziłem, kogo to ja nie kroiłem". Nie wiem, na ile to wina samego autora, a na ile lektora (Konrad Biel, bardzo się nie lubimy, ale nie istotne), ale strasznie takie pretensjonalne to wszystko było. Mimo, że wielokrotnie autor zaznacza, że nie ma intencji takich, to ja jednak mam zupełnie inne odczucia. Z czystym sumieniem nie polecę, bo jest dużo lepszych pozycji.
Przez cały czas denerwował mnie taki wydźwięk: "gdzie to ja nie byłem, ile to ja autopsji nie przeprowadziłem, kogo to ja nie kroiłem". Nie wiem, na ile to wina samego autora, a na ile lektora (Konrad Biel, bardzo się nie lubimy, ale nie istotne), ale strasznie takie pretensjonalne to wszystko było. Mimo, że wielokrotnie autor zaznacza, że nie ma intencji takich, to ja jednak mam zupełnie inne odczucia. Z czystym sumieniem nie polecę, bo jest dużo lepszych pozycji.
May 22, 2024
dzieki tej ksiazce poglebilabym tylko swoja wiedze jakis randomowych specyficznych rzeczy ktore beda brzmialy jakbym sie ich dowiedziala z tiktoka. bardzo dobra ksiazka
March 27, 2012
I cannot review this book without personal bias, as I am lucky enough to have met the book's author. He is a truly wonderful human being and a testament to all those who go to work and do the best job that they can, then get up the next morning and ask if they can do their best job better.
For all your hard work and dedication, which continues to this day in other capacities benefiting the state of Louisiana, we thank you.
December 28, 2023
Ciekawy zawód nie oznacza ciekawej książki. Gościu powinnien pisać mniej o swoich poglądach politycznych, a więcej o swojej pracy.
Ta lektura to była droga przez mękę. Naprawdę nie interesuje mnie, jak autor jest wyrozumiały i cudowny...
Ta lektura to była droga przez mękę. Naprawdę nie interesuje mnie, jak autor jest wyrozumiały i cudowny...
May 15, 2024
Definitely different from my usual reads, but the way Cataldie goes into detail over these grisly cases is admirable to be able to revisit those memories for him. Overall I think it was beautifully executed
April 17, 2025
It was a true crime book if PAT CORNWELL .If you love muder crime stalingyou will it get suck in good read on fridaynight
February 8, 2025
Dużo ciekawych historii, szkoda że mało fajtycznej wiedzy o tym, co się dzieje z ciałem po śmierci
April 24, 2011
I picked this one up on impulse. I'm a fan on forensic science, I'm very fond of reading about the Louisiana bayou and its outskirts, and love a good true crime novel, so it looked promising, but the writing was rough in the beginning and only got worse from there. The narrator offered a lot of opinions without creating enough of a personal rapport with the reader, so he comes off as bossy and unlikable. The only things we really end up knowing about him, on a personal level, are the names of his wife and kid, and that his grandparents spent their years spouting, nonstop, the most cliche'd statements ever.
There are other resources about the Baton Rouge serial killer and coroner's work out there. Pass on this one.
There are other resources about the Baton Rouge serial killer and coroner's work out there. Pass on this one.
October 2, 2008
have read many forensics books- this was not as compelling or scientifically satisfying.
August 22, 2022
Czy zastanawialiście się kiedyś jak wygląda praca koronera lub patologa sądowego? Specyficzny zapach, makabryczne widoki ciał, dziwne przyczyny śmierci. Tak bez wątpienia można z grubsza określić ten rodzaj zawodu. A co dzieje się z psychiką osoby, która codziennie spotyka się w oko w oko ze śmiercią?
Dr Loise Cataldie opisuje swój zawód od środka. Opisuje swoją pracę od początku, od czasów kiedy uczył się rozpoznawać i szukać dowodów. Jak pobierać włókna, włosy, niewidzialne ślady. Jak każdy człowiek popełniał błędy, ale szybko uczył się na nich. Przedstawia nam on sceny, które nie są przyjemnie. Zwęglone szczątki, martwe noworodki, dzieci zgniatane prasą w śmieciarce. Te i wiele innych przykładów śmierci znajdziecie w tym reportażu. Ale nie tylko to. Znajdziecie tutaj też przeżycia psychiczne zarówno koronera, osób zamordowanych jak i rodzin poszkodowanych, którym niestety, ale trzeba przedstawić przyczyny zgonu najbliższych.
Reportaż jest napisany z dużą dokładnością. Czytając go czułam jakbym stała obok doktora i przechodziła przez spalone domy, w których w wyniku pożaru zmarło wiele ludzi. Szukałam zębów by na ich podstawie DNA zidentyfikować zmarłego. Koroner wprowadził mnie w tajniki rozpoznawania czy śmierć była skutkiem morderstwa, tragicznego wypadku, a może samobójstwa.
Z książki tej uświadomiłam sobie, że zmarli zostawiają nam wiele znaków odnośnie ich śmierci. Ale żeby umieć je odczytać i poprawnie zinterpretować potrzeba wielkiego poświęcenia.
Czytając tę książkę zastanawiałam się, czy sam pan Cataldie nie potrzebuje pomocy psychicznej. Jak widząc przeróżne zmaltretowane ciała, z których wydobywa się już nieprzyjemny zapach, można wrócić do domu i żyć normalnie? Jak obcować ze śmiercią codziennie, z którą za każdym razem przegrywa się? Co na to żona i dzieci pana Loise?
Reportaż pozbawiony jest upiększeń. Jest brutalny i szczery do bólu. Realistyczny, w niektórych momentach przyprawiający o ciarki. Wywołuje uczucie wstrętu, smutku. Ukazuje niesprawiedliwość tego świata.
Jeśli chcecie poznać prawdziwy obraz świata, który znamy z seriali typu „SCI Kryminalne zagadki”, to koniecznie sięgnięcie po książkę pana dr Loise Cataldie.
Dr Loise Cataldie opisuje swój zawód od środka. Opisuje swoją pracę od początku, od czasów kiedy uczył się rozpoznawać i szukać dowodów. Jak pobierać włókna, włosy, niewidzialne ślady. Jak każdy człowiek popełniał błędy, ale szybko uczył się na nich. Przedstawia nam on sceny, które nie są przyjemnie. Zwęglone szczątki, martwe noworodki, dzieci zgniatane prasą w śmieciarce. Te i wiele innych przykładów śmierci znajdziecie w tym reportażu. Ale nie tylko to. Znajdziecie tutaj też przeżycia psychiczne zarówno koronera, osób zamordowanych jak i rodzin poszkodowanych, którym niestety, ale trzeba przedstawić przyczyny zgonu najbliższych.
Reportaż jest napisany z dużą dokładnością. Czytając go czułam jakbym stała obok doktora i przechodziła przez spalone domy, w których w wyniku pożaru zmarło wiele ludzi. Szukałam zębów by na ich podstawie DNA zidentyfikować zmarłego. Koroner wprowadził mnie w tajniki rozpoznawania czy śmierć była skutkiem morderstwa, tragicznego wypadku, a może samobójstwa.
Z książki tej uświadomiłam sobie, że zmarli zostawiają nam wiele znaków odnośnie ich śmierci. Ale żeby umieć je odczytać i poprawnie zinterpretować potrzeba wielkiego poświęcenia.
Czytając tę książkę zastanawiałam się, czy sam pan Cataldie nie potrzebuje pomocy psychicznej. Jak widząc przeróżne zmaltretowane ciała, z których wydobywa się już nieprzyjemny zapach, można wrócić do domu i żyć normalnie? Jak obcować ze śmiercią codziennie, z którą za każdym razem przegrywa się? Co na to żona i dzieci pana Loise?
Reportaż pozbawiony jest upiększeń. Jest brutalny i szczery do bólu. Realistyczny, w niektórych momentach przyprawiający o ciarki. Wywołuje uczucie wstrętu, smutku. Ukazuje niesprawiedliwość tego świata.
Jeśli chcecie poznać prawdziwy obraz świata, który znamy z seriali typu „SCI Kryminalne zagadki”, to koniecznie sięgnięcie po książkę pana dr Loise Cataldie.
August 8, 2023
Oko w oko ze śmiercią Louis Cataldie
"Oko w oko ze śmiercią" to biografia znanego koronera Louisa Cataldie. Opowiada o wyglądzie jego pracy, jej wpływie na życie prywatne oraz o tym, w jaki sposób radzi sobie z ciągle napotykaną śmiercią.
W książce bardzo uderzyło we mnie to jakim człowiekiem jest Dr. Cataldie. Patrząc na charakter, jaki przedstawia nam w książce, a także sposób wykonywania jego pracy, muszę powiedzieć, że jest to bardzo empatyczny człowiek, który ma poczucie obowiązku, odpowiedzialności i co najważniejsze, ma cel w swoim zawodzie. Koroner czuje potrzebę uzyskania sprawiedliwości dla rodzin i ofiar, aby jedni mogli powoli leczyć ból po stracie, a drudzy spoczywać w spokoju. Czytając, czułam ogromną sympatię do autora. Jestem w stanie utożsamić się z jego poglądami. Udowadnia, że naprawdę nadaje się do tej pracy.
Robi to, również dzieląc się swoim wieloletnim doświadczeniem i pisząc o lekcjach, jakie wyciągnął ze swoich błędów, a także z rad współpracowników. Widzę, jak dużo pracy włożył w każdą sprawę i jak zdeterminowany był, by nauczyć się być dobrym koronerem.
Prawdopodobnie te najciekawsze sprawy, z których dało się wyciągnąć najwięcej, zostały przedstawione w tej biografii. Muszę przyznać, że każda w jakiś sposób zapada w pamięć, o każdej równie dobrze się czytało i każda niosła jakiś wniosek. Czy to naukę na temat ludzkich zachowań, miejsc zbrodni czy też konkluzje samego doktora Cataldie. Różne sprawy podzielono na kilka rozdziałów w zależności od charakteru zbrodni. Były opisane szczegółowo, ale nie męcząco.
Muszę również wyrazić ogromny podziw dla dużego osiągnięcia autora książki. Mianowicie dla zespołu LOSS, który pomaga poradzić sobie rodzinom, których członek popełnił samobójstwo. Przy każdej ofierze, której metodą śmierci było samobójstwo, wzywa zespół LOSS, aby udzielił psychicznego wsparcia. To wspaniały pomysł i na pewno wielokrotnie pomógł. Równie duży podziw wykazuje względem faktu, że nawet w trakcie spędzania czasu z rodziną koroner musi szybko pobiec na miejsce zbrodni i to robi. Zawsze. To poruszające.
Jedyną rzeczą, na którą chciałabym nieco ponarzekać to okładka. Mam wrażenie, że budżet tego wydawnictwa tylko w minimalnym stopniu idzie na okładki. Przynajmniej jeśli chodzi o biografie. Mało ma ona wspólnego z treścią. Może lekko nawiązuje do pracy w prosektorium, ale to też nie jest do końca prawidłowe. Mogę tylko powiedzieć, że nie była zniechęcająca do kupna.
Podsumowując, okładka może nie jest najcudowniejsza, ale treść jest wzruszająca i warta kupna. Człowiek, który napisał tę biografię, zasłużył na uwagę i uznanie. Szczerze mogę polecić przeczytanie tej książki.
"Oko w oko ze śmiercią" to biografia znanego koronera Louisa Cataldie. Opowiada o wyglądzie jego pracy, jej wpływie na życie prywatne oraz o tym, w jaki sposób radzi sobie z ciągle napotykaną śmiercią.
W książce bardzo uderzyło we mnie to jakim człowiekiem jest Dr. Cataldie. Patrząc na charakter, jaki przedstawia nam w książce, a także sposób wykonywania jego pracy, muszę powiedzieć, że jest to bardzo empatyczny człowiek, który ma poczucie obowiązku, odpowiedzialności i co najważniejsze, ma cel w swoim zawodzie. Koroner czuje potrzebę uzyskania sprawiedliwości dla rodzin i ofiar, aby jedni mogli powoli leczyć ból po stracie, a drudzy spoczywać w spokoju. Czytając, czułam ogromną sympatię do autora. Jestem w stanie utożsamić się z jego poglądami. Udowadnia, że naprawdę nadaje się do tej pracy.
Robi to, również dzieląc się swoim wieloletnim doświadczeniem i pisząc o lekcjach, jakie wyciągnął ze swoich błędów, a także z rad współpracowników. Widzę, jak dużo pracy włożył w każdą sprawę i jak zdeterminowany był, by nauczyć się być dobrym koronerem.
Prawdopodobnie te najciekawsze sprawy, z których dało się wyciągnąć najwięcej, zostały przedstawione w tej biografii. Muszę przyznać, że każda w jakiś sposób zapada w pamięć, o każdej równie dobrze się czytało i każda niosła jakiś wniosek. Czy to naukę na temat ludzkich zachowań, miejsc zbrodni czy też konkluzje samego doktora Cataldie. Różne sprawy podzielono na kilka rozdziałów w zależności od charakteru zbrodni. Były opisane szczegółowo, ale nie męcząco.
Muszę również wyrazić ogromny podziw dla dużego osiągnięcia autora książki. Mianowicie dla zespołu LOSS, który pomaga poradzić sobie rodzinom, których członek popełnił samobójstwo. Przy każdej ofierze, której metodą śmierci było samobójstwo, wzywa zespół LOSS, aby udzielił psychicznego wsparcia. To wspaniały pomysł i na pewno wielokrotnie pomógł. Równie duży podziw wykazuje względem faktu, że nawet w trakcie spędzania czasu z rodziną koroner musi szybko pobiec na miejsce zbrodni i to robi. Zawsze. To poruszające.
Jedyną rzeczą, na którą chciałabym nieco ponarzekać to okładka. Mam wrażenie, że budżet tego wydawnictwa tylko w minimalnym stopniu idzie na okładki. Przynajmniej jeśli chodzi o biografie. Mało ma ona wspólnego z treścią. Może lekko nawiązuje do pracy w prosektorium, ale to też nie jest do końca prawidłowe. Mogę tylko powiedzieć, że nie była zniechęcająca do kupna.
Podsumowując, okładka może nie jest najcudowniejsza, ale treść jest wzruszająca i warta kupna. Człowiek, który napisał tę biografię, zasłużył na uwagę i uznanie. Szczerze mogę polecić przeczytanie tej książki.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 21, 2023
„Oko w oko ze śmiercią” to swoista spowiedź lekarza, koronera, osoby mającej wiele do czynienia ze śmiercią. Cataldie przez 10 lat pracował widząc ciała lub ich szczątki po śmierci. Starał się do spraw podchodzić rzeczowo, bezosobowo, ale jak sam powiedział, obok niektórych śmierci nie można było przejść bez emocji. Każdy niestandardowy zgon, który wymagał wyjaśnienia, wywoływał różnorakie myśli czy uczucia.
Czytając ten reportaż, zapis codziennej pracy lekarza, czasami odnosiłam wrażenie jakby to było suche sprawozdanie osoby stojącej obok opisywanych wydarzeń. Rzetelne, niezbyt szczegółowe, same fakty. A przecież człowiek ten miał do czynienia z mordercami, żywiołami pochłaniającymi ludzkie istnienia, przypadkowymi śmierciami. Z pewnością lekarz musiał wyrobić sobie nawyk chłodnego podejścia do swojej pracy i nie brania wszystkiego do serca. Oglądanie ludzkich tragedii rzadko kiedy nie wywołuje silnych emocji.
„Oko w oko ze śmiercią” to nie jest porywająca lektura, ale nie takie było jej zamierzenie. To swoiste rozliczenie lekarza z czasem, w którym zajmował się tym, co związane jest z zawodem koronera.
Czytając ten reportaż, zapis codziennej pracy lekarza, czasami odnosiłam wrażenie jakby to było suche sprawozdanie osoby stojącej obok opisywanych wydarzeń. Rzetelne, niezbyt szczegółowe, same fakty. A przecież człowiek ten miał do czynienia z mordercami, żywiołami pochłaniającymi ludzkie istnienia, przypadkowymi śmierciami. Z pewnością lekarz musiał wyrobić sobie nawyk chłodnego podejścia do swojej pracy i nie brania wszystkiego do serca. Oglądanie ludzkich tragedii rzadko kiedy nie wywołuje silnych emocji.
„Oko w oko ze śmiercią” to nie jest porywająca lektura, ale nie takie było jej zamierzenie. To swoiste rozliczenie lekarza z czasem, w którym zajmował się tym, co związane jest z zawodem koronera.
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June 19, 2025That old pearl of wisdom guided me again—Truth without compassion is brutality. It’s more than a pearl, it is an extrapolation right out of the Hippocratic Oath (“First, do no harm . . .”).
He killed her body but not her spirit. That must have enraged him even more.
The clinician in me realizes that you cannot take away people’s pain; you must let them have it.
We tried to search the area but came up with only a decomposing deer in the field behind the church and a dead dog in a ditch up the road. Poor Phideaux (or so we had dubbed him) was taken into custody by animal control. I doubt there was a happy outcome for him.
Trying to look for clues and strategizing how to get the body out of the back of the truck, I felt those demons creeping up on me. Demons that cause errors that lose cases in the courtroom. These demons lurk within us with such names as judgmentalism and speculation. Most assuredly evil is visiting upon us this day.
One of the things wrong with her is that she doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.
He killed her body but not her spirit. That must have enraged him even more.
The clinician in me realizes that you cannot take away people’s pain; you must let them have it.
We tried to search the area but came up with only a decomposing deer in the field behind the church and a dead dog in a ditch up the road. Poor Phideaux (or so we had dubbed him) was taken into custody by animal control. I doubt there was a happy outcome for him.
Trying to look for clues and strategizing how to get the body out of the back of the truck, I felt those demons creeping up on me. Demons that cause errors that lose cases in the courtroom. These demons lurk within us with such names as judgmentalism and speculation. Most assuredly evil is visiting upon us this day.
One of the things wrong with her is that she doesn’t know what’s wrong with her.
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December 7, 2020This is a book by a man familiar with the sights and sounds of death, the stink of it, the feel of those remains and who has lent his aid and comfort to the survivors. He, Louis Cataldie, is the coroner of East Baton Rouge, Louisiana and has probed the evidence of suicide, accidents, serial murder and has tried to his best to see that psychiatric patients get the help that they need as a side order of his job. It's not an easy calling and he has seen people at their best and worse. Through it all, he has tried to keep in mind the fragile nature of the human body and psyche and to bring in assistance from such far corners as the Fish And Wildlife Service and the local weatherman. It is a book to be recommended for those willing to stomach all that death can offer the reader and not look away. I, for one, have been taken away because of his words as I've read them the past few days and I consider myself better off because of it.
March 27, 2024
Some interesting stories...some were really difficult to read. Be prepared to be emotionally challenged. Not sure if I enjoyed the style this was presented in. Not alot of segue in between the stories. Kind of just read as a listing of his most stomach churning and titillating cases. I guess the title should of been a hint to me. Definitely read as a collection of journal entries rather than a memoir.
I will say that Cataldie comes across as a dedicated and caring human being that should be considered a true life hero for the work he does and the respect he gives to the people (both living and unliving) he encounters.
I will say that Cataldie comes across as a dedicated and caring human being that should be considered a true life hero for the work he does and the respect he gives to the people (both living and unliving) he encounters.
April 7, 2019
While I knew before that professions dealing with death are not for the faint of heart, this memoir had stunned me at several points with it's descriptions. Louis Cataldie blatantly exposes the various physical as well as emotional hardships that come with dealing with death vividly whilst also remaining respectful to those he has encountered during his time as a coroner. The book itself was written very well. No noticable mistakes and very fluid transitions. This was one of the best memoirs I've read.
April 8, 2019
It's difficult rating a book like this, because I don't want to put a star rating to someone's life, career, and personal experiences. Three stars seemed too low a rating and five too high, so I simply went for four, because I enjoyed this book a lot.
Coroner's Journal is not a book I would have ever picked up on my own; I have my dad to thank for this read. While I thought that I had a semi-thick stomach, there were certainly chapters and sections of this book that had me a little queasy.
Overall, a fantastic read!
Coroner's Journal is not a book I would have ever picked up on my own; I have my dad to thank for this read. While I thought that I had a semi-thick stomach, there were certainly chapters and sections of this book that had me a little queasy.
Overall, a fantastic read!
October 30, 2019
I am from South Louisiana, just a hop skip and jump from where majority of these cases took place. It's surreal to read first hand accounts of these incidents - truly terrifying. We like to think horrible things can't/won't happen to us but this book definitely puts the danger around us into perspective. No one is safe in the game of life and death.
A great supplemental reading to this text is I've Been Watching You: The South Louisiana Serial Killer.
A great supplemental reading to this text is I've Been Watching You: The South Louisiana Serial Killer.
October 17, 2021
To say this was an enjoyable read would not quite be accurate - it brought back a lot of my own stories to my head. It is comforting to know that there are others out there who are visited by the ghosts (Mr Cataldie doesn't say that specifically, but he definitely has those memories floating around in his head).
Interesting look at the hunt for a serial killer as well as some other intriguing cases. Overall a nice peek into the world of forensics, and specifically death investigation.
Interesting look at the hunt for a serial killer as well as some other intriguing cases. Overall a nice peek into the world of forensics, and specifically death investigation.
November 19, 2021
i just finished up this book. i am drawn to this subject matter and i like that this book is written in a journal type way.. i imagine him going home and at the end of every day, writing a little bit of his thoughts, his cases, his ideas etc.. it wasn't so much forensics as it was diary, but i can appreciate that.. i didn't always agree with his thoughts on things, but i went into this book thinking it was just one mans perspective..
enjoyed it!
enjoyed it!
April 20, 2023
I had such a difficult time putting this book down. From start to finish, I was engrossed. I literally craved reading this book when sitting at work. Dr. Cataldie keeps you riveted with the information he produces about being a coroner in a big city and he also personalizes every case, making your heart sore with some of the descriptions of the cases he has covered. This book is as insightful as it is sentimental. Definitely one of the best books I’ve read in regard to death investigation.
August 19, 2025
Because I like this type of subject, this was quite interesting. The writer, who is the coroner, gets a little deep into some of the dates. And when he goes back in time, and comes back to current, sometimes it's hard to follow.
He seems to be careful not to be overly detailed, so his writing isn't gross and disgusting.
But it was quite interesting to see these events from a coroner's viewpoint.
He seems to be careful not to be overly detailed, so his writing isn't gross and disgusting.
But it was quite interesting to see these events from a coroner's viewpoint.
February 26, 2018
Dr. Cataldie writes his memoir with great reflection and maturity. His tales are incredible and unbelievable. He offers advice about life and about death that can only come from someone who has experienced both and under unfortunate circumstances. His book reads like a fictional novel but his accounts of his experiences are all to real.
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