Coroner

Rating:
Summary: Not enough of the good stuff.
Review: "Coroner" is well written and contains some fascinating material. Noguchi was the medical witness to some of the most famous deaths of our time-- including Robert Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, and Natalie Wood. Noguchi was also a character covered in controversy-- accused of hogging the spotlight and violating his victim's privacy. Unfortunately for the book, he spends too much time defending himself against those charges and not enough time telling us about his job in greater depth. Given how much time he spent under attack, this is understandable, but it still detracted from the overall book.

Rating:
Summary: Noguchi writes an enlightening book about forensic science.
Review: As someone who enjoys reading about forensic science, I had never read a book (nonfiction) or account by a coroner. Unfortunately, I live in Pittsburgh where we have the infamous Cyril Wecht to have to listen to or read about constantly in our newspapers and on television. He is not the best representative of this group of scientists, though at one point he must have been a friend to Noguchi. Noguchi does a fairly good job of explaining the work and some of the politics involved in running a forensic lab for any large city. He could have written in much more detail then he did for some of the stories, filled in the endings of the stories like with Patty Hearst, and talked more about the work done with other groups such as the FBI. I think he tries to be fair about giving credit where credit is due, and I also feel like he wrote this book in answer to all of his many critics who lied about his statements and abilities due to prejudice. Being a native Californian and also a deaf person, I am fully aware of the prejudices of that state and can sympathize with Dr. Noguchi. I plan on reading his second book to see if his writing and coverage improves. Otherwise, for those who aren't deeply involved or interested in this area of science, this is a good introductory book. Karen Sadler, Science Education, University of Pittsburgh

Rating:
Summary: Great for Those Entering Forensics
Review: Considering this book, one must understand it was printed in 1983 and tell-all stories were not quite so "in your face" as they can be now. I did expect, and still would like to hear more about the actual autopsies in more detail, as it is barely discussed in this book. However, it is still an interesting accounting of controversial deaths, but will not answer those troubling questions most of us still debate. I found the first chapter about Natalie Wood to be the most enlightening. She really fought for her life, but still no one has satisfied the original question of why she tried to leave the boat in the first place. I must admit that he did more to elevate the status of forensics than any other individual in his field. Maybe Dr. Noguchi will do a more in depth book in the future and concentrate more on the cases than his troubled political life.

Rating:
Summary: Coroner to Fallen Stars
Review: Dr. Noguchi was Chief Medical Examiner/Coroner of the county of Los Angeles, which includes Hollywood. His job is to establish the "manner, cause and circumstance" of death and to report the findings to the public. Every death is a mystery until the cause is known. A coroner is specifically trained to solve that mystery. He collects evidence, interviews witnesses, oversees the autopsy and laboratory reports on the body. In any unusual death, the first duty of an ME is to suspect murder, until proven otherwise.

At age 13 Dr. Noguchi witnessed an incident with his father's patient that set him on the road to forensic medicine. He later learned medicine by day and law by night. After graduation he left for America, the world leader in technology. He aimed to practice forensic medicine because of his love for scientific detective work.

Chapter 4 tells of the autopsy of Robert F. Kennedy. One shot entered underneath the right armpit and exited the right front shoulder. Another was under the armpit and traversed sideways to the spinal column. The fatal bullet entered the skull an inch behind his right ear. The thoroughness of the tests gave credence to a conspiracy theory: Sirhan had NOT fired the fatal bullet (p.101)! The murderer fired from the back into RFK's head; the gun was 3 inches from the head, 1 inch from the right ear. Sirhan was firing from the front (p.103). His gun contained eight bullets, twelve bullet tracks were found at the scene. They could not prove the fatal bullet was fired from Sirhan's gun.

Chapter 5 tells of his fights in the jungle of bureaucratic politics and personalities. "Noguchi was a target because of plain, old-fashioned prejudices" (p.113). The secretary who testified against him admitted her information came from newspapers and the prosecutor! Dr. Noguchi's private comments were the "graveyard humor" common to pathologists. The chief prosecution witness who tried to fire him as "emotionally disturbed" admitted he offered him a post a county hospital with live patients! Dr. Noguchi's faults were being an extrovert, having a sense of humor, and excessive ambition in expanding his department.

Chapter 11 "Forensic Science at Work" summarizes many interesting and entertaining stories from his career. He says Proposition 13 made it almost impossible to obtain increased funding for an increased work load.

Dr. Noguchi reveals the tragic facts of Natalie Wood's drowning. You can read about Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, Janis Joplin, William Holden, and John Belushi. He tells of "the terrible danger of alcohol ... the most popular and most deadly drug ever conceived"; one out of every four deaths is alcohol related (p.227).

Chapter 14 tells of his demotion and removal as Coroner. He had just been installed as president of the National Association of Medical Examiners in Nov 1982. The investigator had ruled that Dr. Noguchi had been "unjustifiably demoted", but the Civil Service Commission disregarded this ruling. He was the victim of bureaucratic harassment or some kind of personal vendetta.

Rating:
Summary: interesting forensic science - celebrity deaths
Review: Forensic pathology is sort of trendy right now with shows like CSI. Noguchi's book was written back in the 80s, but it's still interesting reading if this topic appeals to you. His book is centered around celebrity deaths; it's not as comprehensive a treatment of his specialty as is Michael Baden's Unnatural Death (which I would recommend even more). Coroner would be more appealing then based on your interest in the celebrities it talks about: RFK, Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, Belushi, Natalie Wood, etc. Coroner is better than his other book, Coroner At Large.

Rating:
Summary: interesting forensic science - celebrity deaths
Review: Forensic pathology is sort of trendy right now with shows like CSI. Noguchi's book was written back in the 80s, but it's still interesting reading if this topic appeals to you. His book is centered around celebrity deaths; it's not as comprehensive a treatment of his specialty as is Michael Baden's Unnatural Death (which I would recommend even more). Coroner would be more appealing then based on your interest in the celebrities it talks about: RFK, Marilyn Monroe, Sharon Tate, Belushi, Natalie Wood, etc. Coroner is better than his other book, Coroner At Large.