Have any of you read J. Maarten Troost's Lost on Planet China? This new book (2008) has a subtitle of "Or How He Became Comfortable Eating Live Squid".
This is one adventurous guy! His previous books are entitled "The Sex Lives of Cannibals" and "Getting Stoned with Savages", so you can see he really gets around.
His books are not travel books, but a recounting of the things that befell him while he lived in different cultures.
He had a receptive attitude to all things Chinese (well, mostly) and managed to do well while getting around this enormous country, despite not speaking the language (s).
It's a good fun book, and I'll be looking for more of his writing.
And yes, he really did eat not one, but several.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Not the Least Bit Gruesome ( to me)
I just finished a book that I really enjoyed. The cover has a picture of the soles of a person's feet ----- with a toe-tag attached. The name of the book is simply Stiff , subtitled The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. It was written by Mary Roach, and published in 2003.
The author is able to tell you everything you always wanted to know ( or at least, have wondered ) about what happens to human bodies after death. She did not rely on information from others, but instead, attended an embalming, a cremation, an autopsy, and visited a field where bodies were put out to decompose under varying conditions. You name it, she attended it.
The amazing part is that while she is factual, and always, always respectful of the dead, she is also just so doggone funny. I laughed aloud many times.
I had read a little previously about what happens to bodies after burial, but didn't know for sure what was going on with the remains of people that I have loved. Well, now I know, and while it isn't pretty, it is somehow comforting to know what has happened to them. Mary Roach has done us all a service in sharing this information.
The author is able to tell you everything you always wanted to know ( or at least, have wondered ) about what happens to human bodies after death. She did not rely on information from others, but instead, attended an embalming, a cremation, an autopsy, and visited a field where bodies were put out to decompose under varying conditions. You name it, she attended it.
The amazing part is that while she is factual, and always, always respectful of the dead, she is also just so doggone funny. I laughed aloud many times.
I had read a little previously about what happens to bodies after burial, but didn't know for sure what was going on with the remains of people that I have loved. Well, now I know, and while it isn't pretty, it is somehow comforting to know what has happened to them. Mary Roach has done us all a service in sharing this information.
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