Autopsies For the Armchair Enthusiast: My strange encounters with death as a country medical examiner

by Meryl Broughton

Meryl Broughton has long been a keeper of secrets. As a medical examiner charged with conducting autopsies on people who experienced sudden and unexpected death, Meryl realised that although her special group of patients could no longer be heard, their stories could teach us all so much and deserved a wider audience than the autopsy room.An autopsy is a sort of biography of the body that increasingly few people get to see, and in Autopsies for the Armchair Enthusiast, Meryl provides a virtual tour. The insights she offers are unique and compelling, and not only encourage you to look after your own health, but to be amazed by the intricacies of the human body.This fascinating account of Meryl’s passion for performing autopsies involves pickled brains, dungeons, zombies, maggots, outsides, insides, blood and guts. A lot of guts. Even in death, people are cause for wonder, puzzlement and surprise. Sometimes the seemingly obvious causes of death turn out to be not so obvious after all, and you get to work alongside Meryl as she uncovers the clues and solves the ultimate mystery. Illustrated by true stories based on real cases, Meryl’s wry tone and sense of humour delight as she reveals what really happens in the autopsy room and the lessons she has learned about living.As Meryl says of her autopsy ‘We can’t remove our innate fear of death or the uneasiness most of us feel at the prospect of delving into a real human body. But the autopsy – the act of ‘seeing for ourselves’– will enhance our understanding of how we got to the end.’

221 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 30, 2021

About the author

Meryl Broughton is an Australian author and former rural general practitioner. Her unique memoir 'Autopsies for the Armchair Enthusiast' was first published in 2021. Other writing has appeared in Australian Doctor, Medical Observer, Griffith Review, Science Write Now, Authors Publish and several anthologies.

Reviews

[Tracey Murray · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but a bit repetitive and dry. The cases are interesting but I did skim over a lot of the technical details.

[Susan Belperio · Rating 3 out of 5]

It must be much harder to write a book than to sit and review one. Being a medico, I at least could understand the descriptions given of each autopsy. Overall though, I found that the book was highly repetitive, and it ended up falling short of the expectations that the excellent cover and title created.

[Kelli Humphries · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes, but this book fell short. It was repetitive and seemed to flip clinkily between narrative and autobiographical styles. Three stars.