Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies? - book reviews

Whole Earth Review, Summer, 1995 by Vera

Don't read this book over breakfast. But if you've ever wondered about how long a body takes to decompose, how cremation is carried out, or what undertakers do when they embalm, Death to Dust is for you.

Iserson's motive is simple. He wants to persuade us that our bodies are going to be useless masses of decomposing waste soon after we're dead (no matter what the morticans tell us), so we should consider bequeathing organs and tissues to those who con use them. In the process he gives fascinating discussions of everything from cryonics to grave robbing,

Death to Dust makes its case informatively, persuasively, and with flashes of macobre humor. If you've ever wondered what will happen to your mortal remains after you're gone, you should read this book.--Richard Smoley

NB: To encourage us to bequeath our remains for harvesting the publishers have thoughtfully included a handy-dandy organ/tissue donor card on the book flap. It may be photocopied for duplication. WER hopes you'll share it with friends and family.--Vera

(*) Carnivores and rodents also help destroy exposed corpses. Carnivores, including dogs, coyotes, wolves, and foxes, eat the body's soft tissues, especially the face and hands. They also prefer the spongy part of the arm and leg bones, pelvis and backbone. Dogs and coyotes eat exposed human corpses in a definite order ... and often carry the bones long distances to their dens to continue feeding. Mice and rats generally feed on the soft tissues of the face, hands, and feet, on the abdominal organs, and on the small bones of the hands and feet. The farther away from human habitation a corpse lies, the greater the chance that a carnivore will feed on it, although even Lassie might take a bite from a corpse should one show up in her neighborhood.

(*) Any body may be cremated, but many items in our bodies do not burn. Dental gold, prostheses, metal plates, and metal sutures or screws cannot be destroyed by cremation. Although pacemakers do not burn, those with lithium batteries explode when cremated. Most funeral directors remove pacemakers before cremation to eliminate this hazard. They normally discard the device unless the family requests that it be given back, While cremated tooth fillings emit so much mercury that health authorities are investigating them as toxic air pollutants, bodies with some radioactive isotopes, such as those administered in diagnostic and therapeutic medical procedures, may be cremated. The crematorium must keep special records and must not handle an excess amount of radioactive material per year.

Death to Dust

(What Happens to Dead Bodies?) Kenneth V. Iserson. 1994; 740 pp. ISBN 1-883620-07-4 $38.95 ($41.95 postpaid) from Galen Press, Limited, PO Box 64400, Tucson, AZ 85728-4400; 602/577-8363