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A review by bupdaddy
100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife by Ken Jennings
4.0
I'm sure once he had the hook, Jennings sent Scribner a one-sentence scenario and got greenlit. A travel guide to the afterlife? What could be more whimsical, yet educational?
And it is a great hook. It sustains the brief (275 pages, but lots and lots of white space separate often one-page essays about an afterlife variant) travelogue, even though it becomes, outside of a few really developed hereafters, pretty thin.
Nevertheless, the format (including Fodors-y blocked text TRAVEL TIPS such as "What does 'Jellicle' mean exactly? Who knows. Apparently some kind of bipedal cat with a job and a bodysuit") makes learning about after death fun. And Jennings, significantly, accomplishes a nifty subtle subversive goal - all these places look a little silly held up to scrutiny, including the ones religious people today take seriously (including his own Later Day Saints - shh! Don't say anything. I don't want to get him in trouble with his elders).
So while this probably won't make your short list of books that changed your life, it's worth a read, and his breezy, humorous writing style can carry you through for a nice vacation read or several public transit commutes.
And it is a great hook. It sustains the brief (275 pages, but lots and lots of white space separate often one-page essays about an afterlife variant) travelogue, even though it becomes, outside of a few really developed hereafters, pretty thin.
Nevertheless, the format (including Fodors-y blocked text TRAVEL TIPS such as "What does 'Jellicle' mean exactly? Who knows. Apparently some kind of bipedal cat with a job and a bodysuit") makes learning about after death fun. And Jennings, significantly, accomplishes a nifty subtle subversive goal - all these places look a little silly held up to scrutiny, including the ones religious people today take seriously (including his own Later Day Saints - shh! Don't say anything. I don't want to get him in trouble with his elders).
So while this probably won't make your short list of books that changed your life, it's worth a read, and his breezy, humorous writing style can carry you through for a nice vacation read or several public transit commutes.