Customer Reviews

Murder in the Museum of Man

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love nothing more than a good skewering of the intelligentsia. This novel is laugh out loud funny in its relentless and irreverent atttacks on academia in all its self-absorbed importance and megalomania. The discovery of a human corpse done up in a variety of gourmet dishes that apparently has been served or eaten by the murderer sets us off on a tour of creepy and absurd goings-on at the Museum of Man. As an added bonus, throughout the novel there are is hysterical puns and allusions to contemprorary fiction and great literature. Pay attention to the odd names of the characters and you may find a few anagrams. My favorite is the scene in the Skull Collection Room when Norman, while holding the skull of Rick Royrick (!), a deceased food critic, says: "I knew him, Alger. He was known to be a man of infinite digestion." ) This book was superb and often surprisingly poignant.

This book is only nominally a murder mystery. But that's OK. In fact, that's wonderful--because Alfred Alcorn has written one of the wryest, dryest, funniest send-ups I've ever read. With cleverness, wit, and something akin to slapstick, Alcorn skewers the pretensions of academia, the 1960s, elitist culture, multiculturalism, bureaucracy . . . you name it, he's got its number! I laughed out loud reading this book, and you will, too.

This was a delightfully funny and well-written book. A sinister genetics lab, an equally suspicious Primate Pavillion, and the horrible possiblity of a new Neanderthal diorama complete with P.C. animatronic neanderthals. And only one traditional Recording Secretary trying to reestablish order. A must for all anthropologists, museum curators, graduate students and anyone who has ever been exposed to board meetings or grant proposals.

Everyone knows at least one Norman Abbot de Ratour. The museum world and academia seem to attract his type, so having him as the protaganist of this mystery was perfect. Norman is a middle aged, single, never married, fussy, prissy, pretentious man. He hides behind the barrage of memos over the "correct procedure" for everything from where the annual Christmas party should be held to meeting procedures, etc.

Norman's ordered life is assaulted at every angle by the modern world, the slovenly museum business manager, and the attempts by Wainscott University to take over the governance of his beloved Museum of Man. Into this mix, the visiting Dean from Wainscott University is murdered and his remains seem to have been feasted upon and prepared by a gourmet chef. The attending scandal on his beloved museum is more than Norman can stand, so he decides to solve the mystery himself.

The book is written as an unofficial Museum of Man journal by Recording Secretary Norman de Ratour. You feel the pain of this man as he tries to come to grips with the fact that his ordered "civilized" world doesn't really exist anymore. We also learn about his lost love, Elsbeth. One hears so much about her, that it isn't even a surprise when she appears in the last quarter of the book. Not a natural detective, Norman makes many false starts and wonders how best to proceed, trying to draw on the few detective stories he has read.

The book takes great joy poking fun at academia, museums, governing bodies, committees, etc. The meetings where the Wainscott oversight committee looks into the proposed exhibit on Neanderthal life is hysterical. My only complaint about the book is that it proceeds along at a leisurely, drawn out pace for 4/5 of the book then - bam we are rushed to an ending that makes sense but seems to come somewhat out of left field.

If you have worked in museums, academia, or similar environments you will enjoy this book. If you want a good, interesting and amusing read you will enjoy this book. However, if you are looking for a fast read, look elsewhere.

One of the best mysteries I've read. Not for the John Grisham set, but if you like subtle prose, deft characterization and wry humor, you'll love it.

Poor Norman de Ratour wants nothing more than to return to his orderly life, discharging his duties as Recording Secretary at the Museum of Man and fending off attempts by the rapacious Wainscott University to absorb the Musuem. But when the Director of the Museum is found dead, under circumstances indicating that he's been the main course at a gourmet cannibal feast, the only way Norman can get his life back is to solve the murder--and get a new life in the process.

You'll enjoy catching the literary allusions and laugh at the satirical descriptions of University politics and political correctness. One of the best bits is the absolutely right-on caricature of Alan Dershowitz, Harvard Professor of Law. I hope Alcorn goesn't stop with this one--it deserves a sequel.

I love books that are so well-crafted that I want to read every sentence two or three times, and this is one of them. "Murder in the Museum of Man" can be read on a number of levels: the absurdity of academic life, Norman's position as Recording Secretary (writ large in Norman's mind), Norman's love life (or lack thereof), and of course the murder mystery itself. One of the funniest sequences is a departmental discussion on how to create a politically correct diorama of Neanderthal man (and woman). EVERYONE seems to be offended by at least one aspect of the proposal, from the color of the models' skin (the apparent compromise position is a tartan plaid) to the type of animal roasting on a spit (wild pig offends the Jews, cow offends the Hindus, etc.) to whether the food will be attended by a female model (stereotyping females as domestics) or a male (stereotyping great chefs as men). Norman faithfully records every hilarious detail, seemingly without cracking a smile of his own. This is Mr. Alcorn's first murder mystery. I hope he writes many more.

I read this book in December 1997 and have been lending it to friends and family ever since. Alcorn has a wicked sense of humor and a gift for creating oddball characters. A must for anyone who works in education or has any experience of anthropology, archaeology, or museums. It is also an excellent mystery in its own right.

A marvelously entertaining and somewhat arch look at academia and museums, masquerading as a murder mystery. But how many murder victims are found to have been dined upon? Apparently by a gourmet club? And, can we trust our narrator and guide to this bizarre world? This is a very amusing novel, somewhat reminiscent of John Lanchester's "The Debt to Pleasure." A worthwhile read.

Having recently graduated with a Ph. D. in Anthropology (archaeology focus), I found Alfred Alcorn's character of Norman de Ratour very refreshing. The parody of the academic back drop is just realistic enough to be believable and just over the top enough to be funny. The story is written in the first person, from the point of view of Norman de Ratour, the recording secretary of the Museum of Man (called MOM). He is an old fashion man with some old fashion values, and wages a constant battle with the local university of Wainscott. One constant subplot is that Wainscott University is trying to take control of MOM, with the idea of using for additional space. Norman is trying to stave this off, in spite of an arrogant director.

When Dean Fessing's body is found having been prepared for a cannibalistic meal, Norman becomes and unlikely sleuth, seeking clues while dodging an obstical course of academic polotics and contemporary social issues, at the same time, trying not to be come the murderer's next victim. Alfred Alcorn does for academia what John Mortimer did for the British legal system.

Murder in the Museum of Man and the Love Potion Murders are wickedly amusing sardonic noir tales. Illustrating priceless museum administrators and academics, they are a very sophisticated read. Exotic vocabulary included! Stay tuned for the next installment.