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Book Reviews
Excerpts:
Magnificent Corpses
by Anneli Rufus
1999 Marlowe & Company, 245 pages
reviewed by Kaye McKinzie
“Saints preserve us!” Author Anneli Rufus turns this folk prayer on its head in Magnificent Corpses, a compelling journal recounting her travels across Europe searching out the bodily relics of Christian saints. The desiccated corpses and broken bones of martyrs centuries dead, some nearly forgotten, call Rufus across the continent, from Germany to the Czech Republic, Hungary to Denmark, France to Italy and finally London, England.
Why consecrate the dead, idolize dried flesh, pray over bones or place St. Anthony on the car dash? . . .
Dear Exile
by Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery
1999 Vintage Books, 203 pages
reviewed by Jessie Deeter
Everyone has had a friendship that they believed exemplified the human condition in all its rich complexity, and most people have taken a trip that changed their lives. But most friendships and travel do not translate into interesting or even readable stories. The year of letters shared in Dear Exile by Hilary Liftin and Kate Montgomery, best friends on opposite ends of the world, manages to transcend mere personal stories. Dear Exile deviates marvelously from standard travel literature by juxtaposing the life of the traveler with the one who is left behind. Hilary works mysteriously unidentified Web publishing jobs in the Big City and is in the process of becoming a New York homeowner, while Kate, her recently married best friend, has chucked it all to join the Peace Corps with her husband and teach school children in a remote East African village . . .
