SPOOK

author:
MARY ROACH

Non-fiction
320 pages
W.W. Norton & Co.

Nonfiction author Mary Roach tackles the science of the afterlife in Spook, a New York Times bestseller when published back in 2005. Spook is less an examination of the evidence of the afterlife as a historiography of the scientific study of the afterlife, from the 21 grams theory of Dr. Duncan Macdougall, introduced in the early twentieth century, to present studies on out-of-body or near-death experiences at the University of Virginia Hospital. Along the way, Roach touches upon reincarnation, spiritualism, EMFs and telecommunications, ectoplasm, mediums, and the formation of the soul.

Despite all this cool stuff to get into, the book doesn’t quite hit the level of examination or humor that it promises. There’s nothing immediate at fault: Roach’s writing style is breezy and entertaining (her footnotes, encompassing topics such as the underestimation of the sea urchin, the breadth of research topics funded at Harvard, and Occam’s editing pencil, are a complete hoot and reminiscent of Terry Pratchett’s liberal use of the device), the chapters are all on interesting subjects, and the flow is quick and light. The problem is simply that the topic coverage was simply too wide: I could have done without the chapters on reincarnation and the soul-weighing but done much more with spiritualism as a religious phenomenon, ectoplasm, and mediums. This is a matter of personal taste, surely, and others will feel different.

Perversely, what is good about the book is the same as the bad: its broad range of topics and examinations, all of which were undertaken with experts in the field (whichever field it may be.) Say what you like about the supernatural, there are a lot of experts out there that aren’t the folks sitting in their back yard with tin foil over their head or crosses in their hand. No, Roach was tireless in seeking out persons such as physicists from Duke and the director of the Indian International Centre for Survival and Reincarnation Researches. There are no quacks here, and what you’re reading is what’s currently thought or known about the topics by people smarter than you who have labs and departmental funding. Roach’s research – or at least her ability to ferret out who best to speak – is faultless.??

Spook is at best a base-level examination of the topics it covers, but in terms of its quality of examination at that base-level, you probably won’t get much better out there. Read this book if you’re a beginner to the study of the afterlife, or if you’re interested in the historiography of the study of the afterlife; those already well-versed will probably find Spook a lightweight read.

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