Still Life

Still Life
Author :
Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Total Pages : 277
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780547487052
ISBN-13 : 0547487053
Rating : 4/5 (52 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Still Life by : Melissa Milgrom

Download or read book Still Life written by Melissa Milgrom and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2010-02-14 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After her curiosity is piqued by a safari gone awry, a journalist delves into the curious world of taxidermy and shares her findings. It’s easy to dismiss taxidermy as a kitschy or morbid sideline, the realm of trophy fish and jackalopes or an anachronistic throwback to the dusty diorama. Yet theirs is a world of intrepid hunter-explorers, eccentric naturalists, and gifted museum artisans, all devoted to the paradoxical pursuit of creating the illusion of life. Into this subculture of passionate animal-lovers ventures journalist Melissa Milgrom, whose journey stretches from the anachronistic family workshop of the last chief taxidermist for the American Museum of Natural History to the studio where an English sculptor, granddaughter of a surrealist artist, preserves the animals for Damien Hirst’s most disturbing artworks. She wanders through Mr. Potter’s Museum of Curiosities in the final days of its existence to watch dealers vie for preserved Victorian oddities, and visits the Smithsonian’s offsite lab, where taxidermists transform zoo skins into vivacious beasts. She tags along with a Canadian bear trapper and former Roy Orbison impersonator—the three-time World Taxidermy Champion—as he resurrects an extinct Irish elk using DNA studies and Paleolithic cave art for reference; she even ultimately picks up a scalpel and stuffs her own squirrel. Transformed from a curious onlooker to an empathetic participant, Milgrom takes us deep into the world of taxidermy and reveals its uncanny appeal. “Hilarious but respectful.” —Washington Post “Engrossing.” —New Yorker “[A] delightful debut . . . Milgrom has in Still Life opened up a whole world to readers.” —Chicago Tribune “Milgrom’s lively account will appeal to readers who enjoyed Mary Roach’s quirky science books.” —Library Journal


Still Life Related Books

Still Life
Language: en
Pages: 277
Authors: Melissa Milgrom
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2010-02-14 - Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

After her curiosity is piqued by a safari gone awry, a journalist delves into the curious world of taxidermy and shares her findings. It’s easy to dismiss tax
The Naturalist
Language: en
Pages: 158
Authors:
Categories: Natural history
Type: BOOK - Published: 1894 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Epiphany in the Wilderness
Language: en
Pages: 379
Authors: Karen R. Jones
Categories: History
Type: BOOK - Published: 2016-01-02 - Publisher: University Press of Colorado

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

"Whether fulfilling subsistence needs or featured in stories of grand adventure, hunting loomed large in the material and the imagined landscape of the nineteen
The Oölogist
Language: en
Pages: 36
Authors:
Categories: Birds
Type: BOOK - Published: 1899 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The Rhinoceros of South Asia
Language: en
Pages: 891
Authors: Kees Rookmaaker
Categories: Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2024-06-12 - Publisher: BRILL

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The rhinoceros is an iconic animal. Three species once inhabited South Asia, two of which disappeared over a century ago. This survey aims to reconstruct the hi