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applestokiwis 's review for:
Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?: Big Questions from Tiny Mortals about Death
by Caitlin Doughty
You're at a party and the conversation lulls. You panic, racking your brain for some factoid, any factoid, you can share to get the chatter started again. A-ha! You got one. "Did you know that your pet cat will eat your eyeballs and any soft tissue on your body after you die?" Depending on which party you're at you will either be met by uncomfortable silence or the conversation will pick up on this morbid but interesting topic.
This book is jam-packed with these kinds of factoids and is perfect for anyone who is curious about what happens to our bodies when we die. Some of my favorites being that museums and forensics labs will house a box of beetles that are used to clean dead flesh off without harming the bones, that abuse of corpse laws exist to protect dead bodies from obscene crimes, Europeans sealed cats into their walls as anti-Supernatural charms, or the existence of Leichenaus with its bell festooned corpses, among others. The author writes in about death in a gleeful and quirky way and the pages are filled with cutesy macabre illustrations.
So why only 3 stars? Well for one, I am squeamish and easily frightened. So yes, even the author's delightful narration wasn't enough to alleviate the creepy crawlies I was feeling reading this at night. For another, some of the facts and descriptions of dead bodies were too much for me. Like the exsanguination blood transfer section, or the detailed descriptions of how your body changes colors, and especially the conjoined twins section. I had to stop and close my eyes for a bit before I could begin reading again. My assessment of this book is more a judgement of my personal enjoyment. In short, I liked reading it, but I didn't love it.
This book is jam-packed with these kinds of factoids and is perfect for anyone who is curious about what happens to our bodies when we die. Some of my favorites being that museums and forensics labs will house a box of beetles that are used to clean dead flesh off without harming the bones, that abuse of corpse laws exist to protect dead bodies from obscene crimes, Europeans sealed cats into their walls as anti-Supernatural charms, or the existence of Leichenaus with its bell festooned corpses, among others. The author writes in about death in a gleeful and quirky way and the pages are filled with cutesy macabre illustrations.
So why only 3 stars? Well for one, I am squeamish and easily frightened. So yes, even the author's delightful narration wasn't enough to alleviate the creepy crawlies I was feeling reading this at night. For another, some of the facts and descriptions of dead bodies were too much for me. Like the exsanguination blood transfer section, or the detailed descriptions of how your body changes colors, and especially the conjoined twins section. I had to stop and close my eyes for a bit before I could begin reading again. My assessment of this book is more a judgement of my personal enjoyment. In short, I liked reading it, but I didn't love it.