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| Source: Amazon.com |
From the book’s cover:
There is no scientist in the world like Dr. Bill Bass. A pioneer in forensic anthropology, Bass created the world's first laboratory dedicated to the study of human decomposition—three acres of land on a hillside in Tennessee where human bodies are left to the elements. His research at "the Body Farm" has revolutionized forensic science, helping police crack cold cases and pinpoint time of death. But during a forensics career that spans half a century, Bass and his work have ranged far beyond the gates of the Body Farm. In this riveting book, the bone sleuth explores the rise of modern forensic science, using fascinating cases from his career to take readers into the real world of C.S.I.
Some of Bill Bass's cases rely on the simplest of tools and techniques, such as reassembling—from battered torsos and a stack of severed limbs—eleven people hurled skyward by an explosion at an illegal fireworks factory. Other cases hinge on sophisticated techniques Bass could not have imagined when he began his career: harnessing scanning electron microscopy to detect trace elements in knife wounds; and extracting DNA from a long-buried corpse, only to find that the female murder victim may have been mistakenly identified a quarter-century before.
In Beyond the Body Farm, readers will follow Bass as he explores the depths of an East Tennessee lake with a twenty-first-century sonar system, in a quest for an airplane that disappeared with two people on board thirty-five years ago; see Bass exhume fifties pop star "the Big Bopper" to determine what injuries he suffered in the plane crash that killed three rock and roll legends on "the day the music died"; and join Bass as he works to decipher an ancient Persian death scene nearly three thousand years old. Witty and engaging, Bass dissects the methods used by homicide investigators every day, leading readers on an extraordinary journey into the high-tech science that it takes to crack a case.
Synopsis:
Beyond the Body Farm is a fairly short but very informative and interesting book. Bass has been working in forensic anthropology (a term I hadn't heard before to my knowledge) since before it was actually a field of study. He also trained many of today's leading experts in the field, according to this quasi-memoir. He also started the "Body Farm," as it is nicknamed, which is one of the largest repositories of human remains undergoing the natural process of decomposition for study in the world. I'd read about it before in passing, in that book Stiff (see the review). Bass doesn't go into so much clinical or academic nuance as Mary Roach, author of Stiff, on the subject of death. Bass instead focuses mainly on fascinating cases he has been affiliated with over his time in the business.
The stories are detailed, and often gruesome. One that stood out to me was an account of how Bass and his team of research students (and his family members too - talk about a family interest!) were called to the scene of the largest illegal fireworks factory on record, after the barn which was being used for the manufacturing process blew up. At least a dozen people (I think the total was nineteen - mostly women) were inside when the accident occurred, which was probably caused by sparks from an electric drill that was being used to mix volatile chemicals. The results were disturbing to read. One particular anecdote Bass gave was of a young man whose body was thrown quite a distance by the blast, and his small intestine somehow got caught on a tree during his flight. The results of this... well, if you are interested in such macabre things, read the book. I won't spoil the gross-out factor for you, especially for those of my reading audience with vivid imaginations and easily upset stomachs.
Not to say that the book glorifies carnage. Bass is something of an enigma in this regard. The material he is discussing is really stomach-churning sometimes, and yet he handles it in a very plain manner. This is a point that can be made on the subject, and I think it bears mentioning. Where Stiff went to great lengths to keep an academic focus and handle death with compassion and dignity, Beyond the Body Farm tends to be more coarse and earthy (forgive the unintended pun there) on the subject. It is very much like a memoir of sorts, and Bass doesn't go to great lengths to use euphemisms or sugar-coat the effects of death and all its nastier elements.
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| The author, Bill Bass / Source: NNDB.com |
What I liked about it:
This is a tough one. Well, it is clear that Bass finds his work fascinating, but he does have an appreciation for the lives that used to animate the bodies he is working with. At the same time, it can be said that the work of body fragment/bone analysis and research are clinical to him, and he doesn't blush at calling things as he sees them. As a semi-aside, the narrator of the audiobook I listened to had a very matter-of-fact delivery and his voice conveyed a very honest sort of sensibility, which added to the overall effect of bluntness.
Having said all that, it seems as though I'm trying to equivocate the author and his delivery of such gruesome stuff. The fact is, I'm just trying to point out that Bass is neither overly clinical to the point of academic discourse, nor bragging about disgusting things without feeling or humanity. He falls somewhere in the middle, and I thought that was just fine. Others may disagree, so I have tried to point out both sides of the coin here. Take it for what it is worth.
What I didn’t like about it:
I wouldn't say there was much about the book that I absolutely didn't like. Hmmm... He is pretty blunt, and not always gentle, though you can tell he doesn't take the life that used to be in the bodies he is investigating for granted. There are numerous examples of this.
One particularly poignant moment was when Bass described the work involved in the discovery of the identity of a murder victim who, it turns out, was a teenage Asian-American girl. The description of the evidence found, as well as the remarks near the end of the account on the alleged killer's jail-cell bragging about what he'd done, are enough to reconfirm anyone's belief that people are nuts. Bass remarks on the killer's death while in prison and off-handedly says that it was a heck of a lot easier a thing than what he (the perpetrator) had given his victim in her last moments.
This same sort of dark irony is present in other accounts during the book. It's not so much a bad mark against the book as it is a bad mark against humanity. But it was kind of hard to read. The book has many moments like this. That is, stuff that is hard to read.
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| FBI training at the Body Farm. When I Googled "Body Farm" images, this was one of the least gruesome ones I found. / Source: FBI.gov |
What I learned, if anything:
With what has already been said taken in mind, I'll say that the book was good, and very informative. I learned a lot about forensics in general, including about the science of DNA analysis and how it can be mis-leading or downright unhelpful at times (the OJ Simpson trial is mentioned in the book, though not deeply covered), the ways in which bodies react to things such as bullets or fire, the science of forensic entomology (bugs and how they eat us - yes, it's gross, but its also quite true), the emerging technologies that help investigators identify victims such as computerized facial reconstruction and racial determining software (apparently blacks, whites and Asians/American Indians all have minor but distinct differences in their skeletons that allow racial descent to be determined very accurately) and a number of fascinating instances of how Bass used his skills to discover who someone was and/or how they died.
One of the last cases the book recounts was the exhumation of the Big Bopper, a famous 1950s musician who died in that plane crash with Ritchie Vallens and Buddy Holly. Bass was asked to investigate whether or not Jiles Richardson Jr. (aka The Big Bopper) had somehow climbed out of the plane wreck, or if, as some conspiracy theorists allege, he was a victim of a gunshot wound. The account is full of amazing details, and is one of the most interesting in the entire book, so I'll save the details for those who plan to read it.
Recommendation:
Overall, Beyond the Body Farm was worth reading, despite its morbid subject matter, and is highly recommended for anyone who likes forensics, or is interested in the science of criminology. But definitely not for those who find themselves easily squeamish or who can't handle bones and death.
Learn More about Beyond the Body Farm: A Legendary Bone Detective Explores Murders, Mysteries, and the Revolution in Forensic Science, on Amazon.com
The parting comment:
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| Source: Bill Waterson |
Included this one because I've been building again. I did a stint of it last year, and I started another pile of model airplanes this winter as well. Funny coincidence, I have an F-4 Phantom (like the one in the comic) on the workbench that is giving me some trouble, not too far unlike the sort Calvin's is giving him. I've made the same remark he does, from time to time.
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