The Trauma Cleaner

Author : Sarah Krasnostein
Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250101212
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Trauma Cleaner written by Sarah Krasnostein and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2018-04-10 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the Victorian Prize for Literature, Sarah Krasnostein’s The Trauma Cleaner: One Woman’s Extraordinary Life in the Business of Death, Decay, and Disaster is the fascinating biography of one of the people responsible for tidying up homes in the wake of natural—and unnatural—catastrophes and fatalities. Homicides and suicides, fires and floods, hoarders and addicts. When properties are damaged or neglected, it falls to Sandra Pankhurst, founder of Specialized Trauma Cleaning (STC) Services Pty. Ltd. to sift through the ashes or sweep up the mess of a person’s life or death. Her clients include law enforcement, real estate agents, executors of deceased estates, and charitable organizations representing victimized, mentally ill, elderly, and physically disabled people. In houses and buildings that have fallen into disrepair, Sandra airs out residents’ smells, throws out their weird porn, their photos, their letters, the last traces of their DNA entombed in soaps and toothbrushes. The remnants and mementoes of these people’s lives resonate with Sandra. Before she began professionally cleaning up their traumas, she experienced her own. First, as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home. Then as a husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, and trophy wife. In each role she played, all Sandra wanted to do was belong. The Trauma Cleaner is the extraordinary true story of an extraordinary person dedicated to making order out of chaos with compassion, revealing the common ground Sandra Pankhurst—and everyone—shares with those struck by tragedy.

Author : Sarah Krasnostein
Publisher : Text Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1925410765
Total Pages : 271 pages
Book Rating : 4.61/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Trauma Cleaner written by Sarah Krasnostein and published by Text Publishing. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 271 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner, The 2018 Victorian Prize for Literature, and the Prize for Non-Fiction Before she was a trauma cleaner, Sandra Pankhurst was many things: husband and father, drag queen, gender reassignment patient, sex worker, small businesswoman, trophy wife... But as a little boy, raised in violence and excluded from the family home, she just wanted to belong. Now she believes her clients deserve no less. A woman who sleeps among garbage she has not put out for forty years. A man who bled quietly to death in his loungeroom. A woman who lives with rats, random debris and terrified delusion. The still life of a home vacated by accidental overdose. Sarah Krasnostein has watched the extraordinary Sandra Pankhurst bring order and care to these, the living and the dead—and the book she has written is equally extraordinary. Not just the compelling story of a fascinating life among lives of desperation, but an affirmation that, as isolated as we may feel, we are all in this together. Sarah Krasnostein is a writer. She is admitted to legal practice in Australia and America, and holds a doctorate in criminal law. She is the best-selling author of The Trauma Cleaner which won the Victorian Prize for Literature, the Victorian Premier’s Prize for Non-Fiction, the Australian Book Industry Award for General Non-Fiction, the Dobbie Literary Award, jointly won the Douglas Stewart Prize for non-fiction at the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, was longlisted for the Walkley Book Award and was shortlisted for the National Biography Award, the Melbourne Prize for Literature and the Wellcome Book Prize (UK). Her work has appeared in a variety of publications and academic journals in Australia, the UK and America. ‘Amazing...I couldn’t put this book down, and I can’t wait to recommend it to everyone I know.’ Readings ‘A book that is as hard to read as it is hard to put down. A story of pain and loss and loneliness, of trauma and transformations and sassy humour. And cleaning...It is a hilarious and poignant tale of a woman who defies all labels...Krasnostein is a very fine writer. Her debut book is a compelling and honest story of human survival, and love.’ Australian ‘Krasnostein’s playful yet heartfelt debut is one of the most arresting works of biography you will read in a long time.’ Guardian ‘A wondrous portrait of an inspiring character.’ Saturday Paper ‘[Pankurst’s] story is probably one of the most touching, thoughtful and thought-provoking you will ever read...Sarah Krasnostein tells it with moving compassion, even love.’ New Zealand Herald ‘An extraordinarily impressive debut, in terms of both quality of writing and treatment of the subject matter...Krasnostein handles her material with respect, grace and compassion.’ Sydney Morning Herald ‘Compelling reading...This book reads like an unabashed love letter to Pankhurst with the first-time author, embedded for years in her subject’s life, effusive in her adoration.’ Courier-Mail ‘Deep empathy for complex individuals...Explore[s] the best and worst of who we are.’ Graeme Simsion, Sydney Morning Herald’s Year in Reading 2017 ‘One of the strangest, most fascinating books I’ve read, and a standout of the year. Krasnostein’s command of language is exquisite, and the complexity of Sandra Pankhurst’s life story unfolds seamlessly with the current-day narrative of her unique business and the people she meets with it.’ Feminist Writers Festival, Favourite Reads of 2017 ‘Deeply moving...The book reads as a love letter from Krasnostein to Sandra...I treasured every word.’ Australian Women’s Weekly ‘Intriguing...A complex protagonist makes for engaging material.’ Publishers Weekly

Author : Alan Emmins
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 1429988045
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.49/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Mop Men written by Alan Emmins and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2009-01-20 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Neal Smither doesn't hide his work. The side of his van reads: "Crime Scene Cleaners: Homicides, Suicides and Accidental Death." Whenever a hotel guest permanently checks out, the cops finish an investigation, or an accidental death is reported, Smither's crew pick up the pieces after the police cruisers and ambulances have left. Alan Emmins offers a glimpse at this little-known aspect of America's most gruesome deaths. Filled with details as fascinating as they are gory, Mop Men examines not just the public fascination with murder but also how a self-made success like Smither can make a fortune just by praying for death.

Author : Sarah Krasnostein
Publisher : Tin House Books
ISBN 13 : 1953534074
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.71/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Believer: Encounters with the Beginning, the End, and our Place in the Middle written by Sarah Krasnostein and published by Tin House Books. This book was released on 2022-03-01 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Best Book of the Month at The Philadelphia Inquirer “Deeply beautiful, and never simple.” —James Gleick, author of Time Travel: A History An unforgettable tour of the human condition that explores our universal need for belief to help us make sense of life, death, and everything in between. For Sarah Krasnostein it begins with a Mennonite choir performing on a subway platform, a fleeting moment of witness that sets her on a fascinating journey to discover why people need to believe in absolute truths and what happens when their beliefs crash into her own. Some of the people Krasnostein interviews believe in things many people do not: ghosts, UFOs, the literal creation of the universe in six days. Some believe in things most people would like to: dying with dignity and autonomy; facing up to our transgressions with truthfulness; living with integrity and compassion. By turns devastating and uplifting, and captured in snapshot-vivid detail, these six profiles of a death doula, a geologist who believes the world is six thousand years old, a lecturer in neurobiology who spends his weekends ghost hunting, the fiancée of a disappeared pilot and UFO enthusiasts, a woman incarcerated for killing her husband after suffering years of domestic violence, and Mennonite families in New York will leave you convinced that the most ordinary-seeming people are often the most remarkable and that deep and abiding commonalities can be found within the greatest differences. Vivid, unconventional, entertaining, and full of wonder, The Believer interweaves these stories with compassion and empathy, culminating in an unforgettable tour of the human condition that cuts to the core of who we are as people, and what we’re doing on this earth.

Author : Susannah Walker
Publisher : Doubleday UK
ISBN 13 : 9780857525406
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.09/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Life of Stuff written by Susannah Walker and published by Doubleday UK. This book was released on 2018 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Only after her mother's death does Susannah Walker discover how much of a hoarder she had become. Over the following months, sorting through a dilapidated house filled to the brim with rubbish and treasures, she goes in search of a woman she'd never really known in life. Hoping to piece together her mother's story and make sense of their troubled relationship, what emerges from the mess of scattered papers, discarded photographs and an extraordinary amount of stuff is the history of a sad and fractured family, haunted by dead children, divorce and alcohol."--

Author : Emily Dean
Publisher : Hodder & Stoughton
ISBN 13 : 1473671396
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.93/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Everybody Died, So I Got a Dog written by Emily Dean and published by Hodder & Stoughton. This book was released on 2019-03-07 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Like a master class in memoir writing. Honest, perceptive and properly funny' Neil Gaiman 'A wonderful and very special book' Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt 'Glamorous. Heart-breaking. Hilarious. Feminist. Life-changing' Katherine Ryan 'Heartwarming and heartbreaking all at the same time! Genuinely couldn't put it down' Alan Carr 'Incredibly moving, always funny and brilliantly written. I urge everyone to read it' Frank Skinner 'I can't begin to express how much I love it' Caroline Criado-Perez, author of Invisible Women 'LOVELY. Sad and funny and warm and DOGS' Marian Keyes 'I read it in one sitting - it's so blinking good' Lorraine Kelly 'Funny, sparklingly honest and heart-breaking' Bel Mooney, Daily Mail 'A book that will leave you smiling but with a lump in your throat' Mail on Sunday, '100 Hottest Summer Books 2019' * * * The funny, heart-breaking, wonderfully told story of love, family and overwhelming loss which led Emily Dean to find hope and healing in the dog she always wanted. Growing up with the Deans was a fabulous training ground for many things: ignoring unpaid bills, being the most entertaining guest at dinner, deconstructing poetry. It was never home for the dog Emily craved. Emily shared the lively chaos with her beloved older sister Rachael, her rock. Over the years the sisters bond grew ever closer. As Rachael went on to have the cosy family and treasured dog, Giggle, Emily threw herself into unsettled adventure - dog ownership remaining a distant dream. Then, tragically, Rachael is diagnosed with cancer. In just three devastating years Emily loses not only her sister but both her parents as well. This is the funny heart-breaking, wonderfully told story of how Emily discovers that it is possible to overcome the worst that life can throw at you, that it's never too late to make peace with your past, and that the right time is only ever now, as she finally starts again with her very own dog - the adorable Shih-tzu named Raymond.

Author : Gil Reavill
Publisher : Penguin
ISBN 13 : 1101216891
Total Pages : 304 pages
Book Rating : 4.97/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Aftermath, Inc. written by Gil Reavill and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2007-05-17 with total page 304 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A look into the disturbing but fascinating new field of bio-recovery, as a critically acclaimed crime writer rolls up his sleeves and delves into the world of Aftermath, Inc. The best way to understand the world of Aftermath, Inc. is to imagine life before it. Grief-stricken families of suicide or homicide victims were left to cope on their own. Sometimes police would leave a can of ground coffee behind to soak up the mess. Sometimes local church groups offered to help with the horrific chaos of the scene. Into this void stepped Tim Reifsteck and Chris Wilson, who filled a desperate need by founding their bio-remediation company. Gil Reavill traces their history, introducing us to their clients and employees, and the cops, coroners, and detectives they encounter in their work. Their stories are stranger than fiction, and utterly human and compelling.

Author : Charlie Huston
Publisher : Ballantine Books
ISBN 13 : 0345501128
Total Pages : 354 pages
Book Rating : 4.27/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death written by Charlie Huston and published by Ballantine Books. This book was released on 2009-12-29 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With his teaching career derailed by tragedy and his slacker days numbered, Webster Fillmore Goodhue makes an unlikely move and joins Clean Team, charged with tidying up L.A.'s grisly crime scenes. For Web, it's a steady gig, and he soon finds himself sponging a Malibu suicide's brains from a bathroom mirror and flirting with the man's bereaved and beautiful daughter. Then things get weird: The dead man's daughter asks a favor. Every cell in Web's brain tells him to turn her down, but something makes him hit the Harbor Freeway at midnight to help her however he can. Soon enough it's Web who needs the help when gun-toting California cowboys start showing up on his doorstep. What's the deal? Is it something to do with what he cleaned up in that motel room in Carson? Or is it all about the brewing war between rival trauma cleaners? Web doesn't have a clue, but he'll need to get one if he's going to keep from getting his face kicked in. Again. And again. And again.

Author : Bruce Goldfarb
Publisher : Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1492680486
Total Pages : 207 pages
Book Rating : 4.82/5 ( download)

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Download or read book 18 Tiny Deaths written by Bruce Goldfarb and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2020-02-04 with total page 207 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A captivating blend of history, women in science, and true crime, 18 Tiny Deaths tells the story of how one woman changed the face of forensics forever. Frances Glessner Lee, born a socialite to a wealthy and influential Chicago family in the 1870s, was never meant to have a career, let alone one steeped in death and depravity. Yet she developed a fascination with the investigation of violent crimes, and made it her life's work. Best known for creating the Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death, a series of dollhouses that appear charming—until you notice the macabre little details: an overturned chair, or a blood-spattered comforter. And then, of course, there are the bodies—splayed out on the floor, draped over chairs—clothed in garments that Lee lovingly knit with sewing pins. 18 Tiny Deaths, by official biographer Bruce Goldfarb, delves into Lee's journey from grandmother without a college degree to leading the scientific investigation of unexpected death out of the dark confines of centuries-old techniques and into the light of the modern day. Lee developed a system that used the Nutshells dioramas to train law enforcement officers to investigate violent crimes, and her methods are still used today. The story of a woman whose ambition and accomplishments far exceeded the expectations of her time, 18 Tiny Deaths follows the transformation of a young, wealthy socialite into the mother of modern forensics... "Eye-opening biography of Frances Glessner Lee, who brought American medical forensics into the scientific age...genuinely compelling."—Kirkus Reviews "A captivating portrait of a feminist hero and forensic pioneer." —Booklist

Author : Robin Zasio
Publisher : Rodale Books
ISBN 13 : 1609611322
Total Pages : 243 pages
Book Rating : 4.23/5 ( download)

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Download or read book The Hoarder in You written by Robin Zasio and published by Rodale Books. This book was released on 2012-11-13 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: We all have treasured possessions—a favorite pair of shoes, a much-beloved chair, an ever-expanding record collection. But sometimes, this emotional attachment to our belongings can spiral out of control and culminate into a condition called compulsive hoarding. From hobbyists and collectors to pack rats and compulsive shoppers—it is close to impossible for hoarders to relinquish their precious objects, even if it means that stuff takes over their lives and their homes. According to psychologist Dr. Robin Zasio, our fascination with hoarding stems from the fact that most of us fall somewhere on the hoarding continuum. Even though it may not regularly interfere with our everyday lives, to some degree or another, many of us hoard. The Hoarder In You provides practical advice for decluttering and organizing, including how to tame the emotional pull of acquiring additional things, make order out of chaos by getting a handle on clutter, and create an organizational system that reduces stress and anxiety. Dr. Zasio also shares some of the most serious cases of hoarding that she's encountered, and explains how we can learn from these extreme examples—no matter where we are on the hoarding continuum.