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Book Review of Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife
nrlymrtl avatar reviewed on + 297 more book reviews


What is it about Mary Roach books? I have read all four out there (Bonk, Stiff, Packing for Mars, and Spook) and fervently look forward to the next one. I dont care what subject it will be on; I know I will be one of the first at the library to pick it up.

In Spook, Roach takes us through the history of human attempts to quantify, contact, and plan for the afterlife. Roach just does not hold back in her investigative journalism, asking all those pesky, pointed, icky questions and telling us readers truly what she found out and how she found it out. Let me share a few little tidbits with you. Yall love my tidbits.

The Egyptians had everything from daily life packed away with them for the afterlife, including single-seater toilets. Apparently, all functions continue as normal in the afterlife. Just something to look forward to.

There have been a few people, sometimes even doctors, who try to weigh the human body as it dies to see if there is a quantifiable loss the soul leaving the body. A few other people tried this same experiment with dogs, cattle, goats, and mice. Results have been mixed. Does your soul weigh upon you?

Masters of the seance had a brief period where they played around with low lighting, mysterious smokey incense, and ectoplasm from the beyond. The ectoplasm, upon close examination, was usually cheesecloth draped around the spiritual channeler. People eventually started to catch on to this and the lady seance leaders had to get creative on where to hide the ectoplasm until it was needed..like in their panties.

If you have not checked out a Mary Roach book yet, I strongly encourage it. Her books are some of the most enlightening, and entertaining, non-fiction out there.