CURIOUS COFFINS AND RIVETING RITUALS

A lively examination of death.

There’s nothing like a bit of ground-up human to cure what ails you. Centuries ago, this is what some Europeans believed, buying “mummia”—powdered mummies—to stir into medicinal drinks or use as a salve. Egypt eventually banned the export of mummia in the 16th century, which led to a black market of fake mummies—“freshly dead bodies were doctored with pitch, dried in ovens, and wrapped in linen in an attempt to fool customers.” So writes Liak in an insightful exploration of death practices; she also illustrates the book. (A Chinese Singaporean artist, Liak designs book covers for Grand Central Publishing.) Packed with historical anecdotes accompanied by bright and playful images, this survey will delight readers young and old. For instance, in parts of the South Pacific, Liak writes, “it is believed that little bits of life leave our bodies throughout our lifetimes, such as when we fall asleep or get sick, so it may be said that we ‘die’ multiple times before finally passing on. For communities such as these, death is not an event but a gradual social process.” In 17th-to-19th century Wales, “sin-eaters” often attended funerals. The author writes, “They were often poor and desperate outcasts who were paid to consume bread and beer that had supposedly soaked up the evils of the deceased after being placed near the bodies for extended periods of time.” Liak shares snippets about cemeteries, phantoms, charnel houses, and mourning attire—in Ghana, close relatives of the deceased wear red; “if the deceased died of old age, white is worn to celebrate a life well lived.” Ghana knows how to put the “fun” in funerals, she observes. “Many coffins recall the deceased’s former professions. For example, fishermen are sometimes buried in fish-shaped coffins.” Now that’s a way to go.

An endearing and lighthearted look at the fate that awaits us all.