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| Mummy Dearest | | Date Created: Nov 26, 2005, 11:23 AM |
 OK, I'm a sucker for any anthropology/forensic/mummy/death/disease book. Particularly one that involved a TV show and a round-the-world trek like Long Way Round. Well that was motorcycles and movie stars but it was around the world.
Mummy Dearest is about chasing mummies around the world. It's not exactly a textbook although the authors have scientific credentials and keep talking about the science. Ron Beckett and Jerry Conlogue share a love of mummies and forensics. They got to be the investigators and hosts of a National Geographic series, Mummy Road Show. I've never seen the TV show but I've seen The Mythbusters.
An interesting subject and two guys working hard at doing what they love to do is always worth a look. The book, Long Way Around, also used a chatty, amateur style of writing that alternates between the two author's thoughts written down. It's like listening to a bull session with attempts at humor, gravity, science, and political correctness all mixed in.
Jerry and Ron list the people they think should be mummified immediately. Jerry thinks of George Bush first and Ron say all politicians, so you can see what their political bias is. They're largely unreconstructed hippies and it shows in their treatment of AGPRA and the grey line between looters and looting and researchers and studying human remains. They do a good job of an overview of the subject, a diversity of subjects, and nice historical perspective. There are a fair number of b/w pictures and a few in excellent color.
Fans of the TV show and mummy fans should enjoy this. It's geared to those who know nothing about the subject and it's not a literary work of art. There are certainly more complete and scientific treatments. Still, it was an enjoyable read and will add to my library shelf on the subject. |
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