The long-awaited new book from the critically acclaimed author of “The Lightkeepers” and “The Wildlands”: an intense and insightful collection that examines life in decay to celebrate the horrors and joys of inhabiting our bodies
The body cannot tell any lies. From birth to death, and all the transitions in between, the body stores our knowledge and history, our feelings and experiences. Our betrayals. These insightful and empathetic stories, from the critically acclaimed author of “The Last Animal”, shine new light on our physical vessels set against our physical world, two landscapes irretrievably connected and altered over time.
An etymologist solves cold cases and upholds a sense of justice by studying the decay of corpses in a field and the insect life they develop. A caregiver obsesses over a stained-glass lampshade to deal with the elegiac losses of Alzheimer's. A sister with webbed fingers highlights the strangely relatable belief that our siblings just might be creatures brought forth from the deep. The memory of a scent evokes the haunting legacy of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“The Body Farm” displays Abby Geni's great capacity to take us into the lives and experiences of others to scrutinize the physical self: birth, childhood, transition, mental health, trauma, aging, illness, love, sex, and death.
