Robbing graves...it's easy when you know how!
In this out-of-left-field follow up to the critically acclaimed SMART ALECK'S GUIDE TO AMERICAN HISTORY (Random House, 2009), Adam Selzer and the Smart Aleck Staff delve into the history, theory and practice of grave robbing. It's everything you need to launch YOUR career as a 19th century resurrection man - the smart aleck way!
With their trademark humor somehow staying (mostly) in the bounds of good taste, the staff delves into the reality behind tales of Victorian "mummy unwrapping parties," the days when anyone who came into possession of a dead body could trade it for cash or valuable prizes at medical schools, no questions asked, and murderers who found that simply killing a person to sell to colleges saved them a lot of digging. They even conduct interviews with horror novelists and archaeologists, then provide you with some of the tricks of the trade.
THE SMART ALECK'S GUIDE TO GRAVE ROBBING is fascinating, disgusting, and entertaining. In addition to the history, it features sections like a handy set of rhymes to help you remember whether "coffin liquor" is safe to drink based on the color and texture.
Since this is a text book, it comes complete with quizzes, assignments, and experiments to try at home.
It's not for the faint of heart, but horror fans, trivia buffs, and the historically inclined will find much to enjoy (albeit not before dinner). The full length book (50,000 words+) contains an active table of contents, active internal links, and a transcript of the famous 1812 "Diary of a Resurrectionist" in the appendix.
Praise for THE SMART ALECK'S GUIDE TO AMERICAN HISTORY:
"Speeding along on humor, Daily Show-style,…the irreverent, often laugh-out-loud approach should win over reluctant readers." - Publisher's Weekly
"In the style of acclaimed writers Jon Stewart (The Daily Show) and Stephen Colbert (The Colbert Report), this witty, comedic and appealing volume is sure to appeal" - School Library Journal
"Pretty darn entertaining…valuable lessons about info-literacy…will enlighten, entertain, and might well motivate students to go on to check out in-depth books" - Richie's Picks
"Wacky, irreverent….Mark Twain would have loved it" - Florida Times Union 
