Death's Acre

The writing could be tighter, but his wandering through his life is interesting. How he, an anthropologist developed into a pioneer in the field of forensics is interesting & funny, in rather horrible ways. (A corpse in the closet over the weekend - the poor janitor!) The development & reasoning behind the body farm is also interesting. See Mary Roache's book on corpses - she has a chapter on the body farm & does a wonderful job, too.

I want to say this wasn't as gruesome as I thought it would be, but I recently finished reading 'Working Stiff' so I may have a high tolerance for the macabre. It was enjoyable and interesting, but I did feel a slight disconnect between the narrative and the tone. My own prejudices probably, but the tone is sort of folksy whereas the stories are anything but. Then again, perhaps the folksy tone makes the material more accessible (and less gruesome).

A fascinating book about the body farm in Tennessee and a autobiography of sorts of Bill Bass. As Dr Bass started the Body Farm to find out what happens to bodies as they decompose, it would have been an incomplete history without his story and memories.
Well written, highly readable, it includes many facts that some people would find gross and distasteful. I found I delighted in grossing out my husband and some work collegues in the parts I found very interesting. The prose is respectful to the people who have their corpse in the body farm and who provide some much valuable data to solve murders and therefore lead to the conviction of murders and arsonists.

Excellent book and highly recomended.

Who knew Bass could write so well? Your typical physical anthropology story about what information can be deduced from a skeleton, it was told around personal stories that helped add depth to the material. Bass confronts the infamous Colonel Shy incident head on with engaging honesty, and approaches the case histories with a clear eye and open mind. An enjoyable read.

This is an excellent book, telling Dr. Bass's entire story, including his time prior to the Body Farm. He has had a wonderful career and seems to be a good scientist: both curious and selfless. How rewarding it must be to see you work lead to justice in criminal cases. This book was even better than I had hoped. Well-written and intriguing!

Originally approached as a research source, this book was surprisingly fascinating and overall a great read. Dr. Bill Bass (after misjudging a time of death by 112 years) developed an Anthropology Research Facility to study decomposition of human bodies in order to assist investigations in estimating time since death. The facility in Knoxville, TN - which gained and kept the nickname "The Body Farm" - has revolutionized forensic science providing data on numerous disciplines (including but not limted to anthropology, entomology, odontology, as well as projects studying effects of toolmarks and fire on human bones). Bass intersperses the research data with anecdotes of his life and includes many real life case examples that are sometimes show more rather gruesome but always quite intriguing. Any fans of true crime stories or anyone looking to learn more about forensic science should count Death's Acre as a definite must read book. show less

This is the story of the legendary Body Farm in Tennessee, the place where human bodies are allowed to decompose in a variety of situations so that scientists can better understand what happens to us after we die. Making their studies even more important, it gives us a better understanding of when and how people die, very important in murder investigations. This book is a great read on the history of the Body Farm coupled with great real life stories that make it become real. Kudos to those of us brave enough to entrust these scientists with our remains in the hope that good comes from these donations. This is a fascinating read!