Rag and Bone: A Journey Among the World’s Holy Dead
By Peter Manseau
Henry Holt & Company, $26.00, 241 pages
This is a tale about the fascinating world of religious and ancient relics. As a single subject, it would be mildly interesting – most of us are intrigued by the mystery of our ancient selves. But Rag and Bones takes what could have been a simple exploration of old bones and chalices, and transforms that simple literary exercise into a beautiful, and at times very funny and insightful journey of faith, culture, religious history, and exotic locales. Travel to Umbria and meet the tongue of a saint; go to Goa, India, and discover a holy toe; then hop on over to Hollywood, California at a local, popular Buddhist temple and yoga palace – hold the dust of a former Buddhist leader in the palm of your hand. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
What makes Rag and Bones more than just a good reference book for anyone wanting to learn about the history and meaning of ancient relics, is what makes essays in The New Yorker or Atlantic Review compelling. Author Peter Manseau is a tremendously talented creative non-fiction scribe. His flair for vivid detail, artful, conversational tone, and his writerly ear make reading his work not like reading at all. Manseau is a writer with flavor and humor, and has the kind of eye capable of bringing other realities and world’s into a reader’s living room, as if they themselves were standing at the foot of the Nepalese mountains. Rag and Bones is a truly great book, even if you could give a wit about the toe of some dead, alleged saint. Manseau makes bones thrilling.
Reviewed by Tracy Saville
