Curious Coffins and Riveting Rituals: Death Practices Around the World

“Death defines the human condition to such a degree that in Homeric and later Greek texts, the word mortal came to be synonymous with man,” notes illustrator Liak, who designs book covers for Hachette, in this enjoyable debut survey of death beliefs and ceremonies from around the world. Liak goes on to find much that unites disparate cultures and historical periods in their ideas about death; many cultures, she shows, believe in something like a soul—it’s where the soul goes after death that’s the less settled matter—and have mythical figures who represent death (it’s these figures’ demeanors that vary, from the “grim” reaper to Mexico’s Santa Muerte, who is “much more personable”). Readers will find themselves idly daydreaming about what kind of burial they would want—stacked beneath “the bodies of servants, wives, and concubines” like an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, perhaps, or, like the dead among the Amazon’s Wari’ people until the 1960s, eaten by one’s neighbors? Bibliophiles may recognize Liak’s illustration style from many a Hachette cover: bright representations of dark subjects, fun yet a little frightening, recognizable yet abstract. The illustrations keep the subject matter lively, as does Liak’s sly way with words (“Now, you might be asking why. Why eat the corpse if it was so difficult to swallow?”). In this enlightening and colorful romp, death is a helluva good time. (Sept.)