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| Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife | 
 enlarge | Author: Mary Roach
Publisher: W. W. Norton
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95 (32.84 RON)
Buy New: $10.88 (25.61 RON)
You Save: $3.07 (7.23 RON) (22%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  113 reviews
Sales Rank: 22443
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0393329127
Dewey Decimal Number: 129
EAN: 9780393329124
ASIN: 0393329127
Publication Date: October 2, 2006
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 A truly unfortunate follow-up to Stiff July 10, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I loved Mary Roach's first book, Stiff, about what becomes of our bodies after we die. It was so fresh. It tackled a novel, but sensitive topic in a way that was very funny, but wasn't offensive. On top of that, I learned something. It was sophisticated irreverence.
I just learned that Mary has since written two more books and I was very excited to read them. Spook, about science tackling the question of the afterlife and the whether humans truly have an immortal soul seemed like it might be another fresh take on a dicey subject.
It wasn't.
All of the components that made Roach's sophomoric humor so successful in Stiff are missing in Spook. That form of humor works when you simultaneously demonstrate that you are capable of deeper thinking, analysis and understanding. In that case, it shows that you can work and play on many levels. When you just bring the juvenile humor, you just look juvenile. It's not a good look.
Feel free to skip this one, even if you loved Stiff. On the other hand, if you haven't read Stiff, you should, even if you read this book and hated it.
 Entertaining but not very thorough. May 14, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I was entertained by this book at first because her research covered many areas I was unfamiliar with. I enjoyed that part however I felt like there was much missing. The Author carefully picked the items that already fit into her previous belief system and then rejected everything else. I am glad I read it because I can learn something new from everything...
This is overall a very incomplete study of the afterlife.........
Juvenile May 9, 2008
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
I was expecting more. given her access tos a diverse group of fascinating but unconventional people, Spook rarely rises above pointing and giggling.
Given the skewering Roach gives to her unwitting collaboraters, I wonder how many more books she can write before all doors are slammed in her face.
Grow up, Mary April 22, 2008
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
Let me begin by saying that Mary Roach is an excellent researcher and a deft writer. That's the good news. The bad news is that she is immature and there is way too much Mary in this book. Reading this book is like spending an afternoon with a precocious 12 year old boy. At first she is somewhat amusing, but quickly becomes ill-mannered, whiny, and rude. By the end of the afternoon, you are quite eager to return the boorish, annoying little brat to her parents. She has a mean streak, and when I say mean I'm talking Ann Coulter-mean. She makes fun of people's names, looks, dress, and how they talk. (As a researcher, this shows terribly bad form--you do not insult those who have been kind enough to help you write the book). She also an unsettling and frequent habit of including something gross every chance she gets. I lost count of the number of times she digressed into some tangent involving bodily functions. Then she has the nerve to write something like, "It's always underpants with these guys." No, Mary, it's always underpants with YOU. The title of the book is meant to mislead, by the way (I'm sure Mary snickered when the publisher informed her about the chosen subtitle as she knew it would pull in the "suckers.") The title should actually be "A Skeptic's Cynical Guide to Wackos who Believe in the Afterlife." Mary should not be allowed out of her room until she becomes a grown-up.
 A trifling but very (and sometimes VERY) funny book April 21, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you want to learn anything about pretty much anything, Spook is not the book for you. Whereas Roach's earlier effort (Stiff) was at once quite funny and packed with interesting details, Spook, though also quite funny, is pretty much totally lacking in the substance area. Why 5 stars then? Because it's a no-brainer to this reader, at least, that MR's principal purpose in writing is to entertain, and only a distant secondarily to inform or instruct. In short, I did not expect to learn much about science, the afterlife, or about approaches to the study of the latter by the former when I picked up a copy of Spook. What I did expect was to be amused, greatly greatly amused. Reading page after page of MR's wry observations and hilarious turns of phrase, I certainly was. Spook is a very fun read.
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