100 Places to See After You Die is a conundrum for me. One-quarter percentage of me thinks, "Holy moley, this is kind of disrespectful toward death." The other 3/4 of me laughed so hard I was snort laughing. When I read about Hieronymus Bosch's painting, The Last Judgement, I chortled so hard I started coughing and then fell over. I was lucky I didn't join the "choir invisible myself." I mean, how can a person not guffaw at a naked guy playing the flute with his anus, using sheet music printed on the buttocks of a man who has been squashed by a giant lute? Well, okay, maybe it wouldn't be funny if it was me playing the flute with my farts but it's a hoot in the painting. Or a toot, depending on how you want to look at it.
The author, Ken Jennings, covers every kind of afterlife from Medieval literature to modern TV shows. One thing that stands out is that the public is way more interested in Hell than in Heaven. He points out that good stories have conflict. Heaven has very little conflict and Hell is nothing but conflict, unless you like playing the flute with your butt.
Only one chapter isn't all that fun and that is the final one, the one about Dungeons and Dragons' afterlife. As the final chapter it should be a grande finale, not a sputter out.
Jennnings' book proves that learning can be fun! I picked up a lot about art, literature, films, and bad TV shows. My Mother the Car, anyone?
Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for allowing me to read and review 100 Places to See After You Die. I have to go now. My flute lessons are waiting.
Fun Cover, Too. The guy with the flute is in that crowd. Hey, there could be a series of books for kids. Where's the Guy with the Butt Flute?
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