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Spook

Science Tackles the Afterlife
Community comment are the opinions of contributing users. These comment do not represent the opinions of King County Library System.
Dec 19, 2011jmikesmith rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Author Mary Roach admits up front that she is skeptical of all claims of life after death and has been since she was a teenager. Her aim in this book is to apply scientific rigour to the question of the afterlife and see what she can learn. Roach's approach to science books is to use a lot of humour and tangential asides to lighten the topic and to entertain. This worked very well in her more recent "Packing for Mars". Here, in Spook, she was either reluctant to let loose with the mocking commentary that was so effective in Packing for Mars because of the subject matter or her talent was not as developed as it would become. Either way, the humour is more subdued and a bit forced here. That being said, this is still an enjoyable book and covers a range of topics including reincarnation, measuring the weight of the soul, ectoplasm and mediums, ghosts, and near-death experiences. Whatever your views on the afterlife, this book will probably not change your mind, but it may at least make you think a bit about it.