The word “cemetery” might first conjure up your own local variant, a big lawn studded somewhat regularly with cement tombstones. It’s a place you might not think about much, until you read 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die by Loren Rhoads. Rhoads innocent-seeming travel guide is actually a thought-provoking look at life, death and everything in-between. Gorgeously photographed and stunningly well-traveled and researched 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die the perfect logical endpoint of all bucket lists.
After an admirably eloquent and brief introduction, Rhoads offers up exactly what is advertised. Divvied up by location, she finds the most destinations in the US. She then goes ’round the world. Every destination gets at last one photo, sometimes more, and they are all top notch. The whole book is in color; it’s a gorgeous thing just to look at. Moreover, Rhoads is a great writer, whose summaries are much more than mere travelogue. They’re miniature essays that touch on all the things suggested by cemeteries, which is to say, life’s rich pageant.
The utility of this book is manifold. If you want to ponder just about any aspect of life, these elaborate visions of where we house our dead will take you places you might never expect. If you’re looking for a reason to travel just about anywhere, you will find it here. And if you are planning on travelling just about anywhere, this book is likely to serve up a perfect little side trip.
Whether or not you are planning on rising from the chair in which you read it anytime soon, this book has something to say to you. It says it well, it says it with both eloquent prose and beautiful photographs, it is a pragmatic assessment and an inducement to whimsy, and it does all of this 199 times. Loren Rhoads 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die is arguably the best, indeed the only travel guide for the living and the dead. The grass is always greener on your grave.
As far as I was concerned, 199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die had another benefit as well, which is the opportunity to speak with the author, about my favorite places in the book and all the odd thought-paths those places took me. I thought Loren Rhoads every bit as riveting as her book, and lots of fun to talk to. Here’s a link to our lightning round, which served up something different from the main interview.
Follow this link to listen to the long-form version, and take a deep dive into the wild and wooly world of after-life housing. Or, if you prefer to transition to the next world while at your desk, listen below!
Narrative Species 