Overview

Would you be buried, burned, sunk or pickled? Or turned into a diamond, embalmed like Lenin, or shot into space like Star Trek's Scotty? ""The Dying Game"" is a rollercoaster history of everything that has, could, and does befall a corpse - from the bizarre and macabre death rituals of ancient and modern cultures, to the morbidly fascinating biological, ethical, and legal story that begins only when we end. A brilliant book of the dead that's both gruesomely entertaining and exhaustively informative, Melanie King's in-depth investigation will show you that, as far as the physical body is concerned, death is far from the end of the story. Essential reading for both the cultural adventurer and the morbidly curious, ""The Dying Game"" reveals everything you never knew (and didn't know you wanted to know) about the last taboo: Death.

Full Product Details

9781851685929

Table of Contents

Reviews

"Beth A. Conklin, Author of Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society - ""Who knew reading about death could be so much fun? From corpse medicines to ancient forensic science and Buddhist monks who embalm themselves, Melanie King offers a feast of fresh insights into the fascinating, gruesome, and ingenious ways that humans have dealt with death throughout history. This is a lively, informative, wide-ranging survey of deathways past and present.""Ann Granger, best-selling crime author - ""She has succeeded in making a grim subject a very good read.""Michael Sims, author of Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Body and Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination - ""It's all here, from plastinated bodies in museums to desperate grabs at immortality, and all told with the kind of dry champagne wit that such a topic needs but seldom finds. What I consider most impressive is King's ability to remain very much in charge of such a compelling, outrageous narrative."""

Beth A. Conklin, Author of Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society - ""Who knew reading about death could be so much fun? From corpse medicines to ancient forensic science and Buddhist monks who embalm themselves, Melanie King offers a feast of fresh insights into the fascinating, gruesome, and ingenious ways that humans have dealt with death throughout history. This is a lively, informative, wide-ranging survey of deathways past and present.""Ann Granger, best-selling crime author - ""She has succeeded in making a grim subject a very good read.""Michael Sims, author of Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Body and Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination - ""It's all here, from plastinated bodies in museums to desperate grabs at immortality, and all told with the kind of dry champagne wit that such a topic needs but seldom finds. What I consider most impressive is King's ability to remain very much in charge of such a compelling, outrageous narrative.""

Beth A. Conklin, Author of Consuming Grief: Compassionate Cannibalism in an Amazonian Society - Who knew reading about death could be so much fun? From corpse medicines to ancient forensic science and Buddhist monks who embalm themselves, Melanie King offers a feast of fresh insights into the fascinating, gruesome, and ingenious ways that humans have dealt with death throughout history. This is a lively, informative, wide-ranging survey of deathways past and present. Ann Granger, best-selling crime author - She has succeeded in making a grim subject a very good read. Michael Sims, author of Adam's Navel: A Natural and Cultural History of the Human Body and Apollo's Fire: A Day on Earth in Nature and Imagination - It's all here, from plastinated bodies in museums to desperate grabs at immortality, and all told with the kind of dry champagne wit that such a topic needs but seldom finds. What I consider most impressive is King's ability to remain very much in charge of such a compelling, outrageous narrative.

Author Information

Melanie King studied at the Universities of Sussex and Oxford and has a background in journalism. She is now a full-time writer and lives in Oxford with her husband, the writer Ross King.

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