A review by zara_m
Dead Men Do Tell Tales: The Strange and Fascinating Cases of a Forensic Anthropologist by Michael Browning, William R. Maples

4.0

Some of you guys need to chill out omg. Are you forgetting the type of person who wrote this and the time he wrote it in? Of course he's going to be arrogant and self important; he's been told how great he is his entire life and he's a successful white man. I genuinely don't think he knows any better. And I can forgive him because he knows his stuff and he's dead. I acknowledge the subtle sexism, but you cannot possibly think a man like this is going to be some great feminist activist. Anyway, yeah he does often drone on about how great he is, but I didn't find it annoying or upsetting because I don't think it's coming from a bad place. He really is very knowledgable and clever and I think there's more to gain from that than there is from criticizing his ego, if that makes sense. You know when you meet someone really interesting who loves to talk about their really interesting experiences and knowledge? This book is like that I think, but it's better because you are in no way obligated to listen to all that he has to say. So if you're someone who is easily annoyed by arrogance I don't think this would be a fun read, but if you can look past that, then there's really interesting stories and descriptions and just thoughtful writing overall. Also, he's very funny and the writing is not at all bad, which is sometimes what happens when a non writer writes a book. I'd say this book is equal parts biography and true crime, so expect some mildly irrelevant life stories about baboon bites and apology letters from New Hampshire investigators. I will say, I wish this book included some stories where he had been found wrong in his findings because he did mention that it happens of course, but it would be cool to know the stories where he was not the hero.