Customer Reviews

The Corpse: A History

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Now, I have seen 5 stars handed out to almost anything on these reviews, but believe me...this book deserves it. I first heard about this book after reading an article on author Christine Quigley in the Washington D.C. City Paper. Since I don't have a computer, it took me forever to find "The Corpse". But after I finally got a hold of it and a chance to sit down and read the whole thing, it was WELL worth the wait. Packed with page after page of real-life accounts, this little gem covers all kinds of stories imaginable about the trips some corpses have taken after being relieved of life. Including such strange facts as odd discovery locations, devices developed to aid the prematurely buried, and even corpses that have wed one another. Quigley's writing never allows a single drag, beautifully backing her immense load of true stories with bits of historic and scientific explanations to help clarify reasons why and how such things could happen. "The Corpse" has definately risen to the list of favorite books I have ever read, and rightfully so. If the topics of death and where the body goes after death interests you, "The Corpse: A History" is fantastic. A very down-to-earth and brutally honest look at the realities of post-mortem events.

This is a very interesting book if you like reading about corpses and the different aspects of what can be done to bodies. Most of the book is about historical data and what happened to corpses 'in the old days'. Well worth a read.

The subject matter helps to de-mystify the process of death. Unfortunately, I have various concerns about the author's facts. Her writing (or somebody's editing) paid little heed to syntax, grammar and punctuation. The index is not useful.

For example, she states on page 287 that in the District of Columbia, "unclaimed bodies are cremated after 30 days". Yet the "Washington Post" recently ran several articles about bodies stacked like logs at the DC morgue for months at a time. Employees at the morgue quit their jobs because of the stench, poor management, and health hazards.

On page 161, a mine explosion in Jacob's Creek, Pennsylvania, killed "2 to 300 workers." That's a 99% variance, by my calculation, and an unacceptable one to boot (anyway, whatever happened to the other 298??).

I don't know where Ms. Quigley is at present but I hope she's not at Georgetown U any longer. Georgetown has a reputation to protect and Washington does not need another "inside" story, much less an "Assistant Director of Academic Affairs," (administrative assistant?) with a rapid-fire style of writing that will pepper the reader with facts but miss their meaning.

I'd go with Mary Roach any time, and she's more enjoyable to read, also. The book is not without useful information, but, Ms. Quigley presents herself as an over-eager B-list party-crasher.