Scoring in Heaven: Gravestones and Cemetery Art of the American Sunbelt States

Rating:
Summary: "Scoring" is a witty and wiley visual journey
Review: Without seeing the contents of this delightful book you might be inclined to think the subject of gravestones and cemetery markers a bit morbid. Happy to report, it is humorous, insightful, and most of all very upbeat. The cemetery monuments which most intrigue photographers Bunnen and Smith are those which give us an insight into the people whose lives they summarize. There are bowlers (the title of the book refers to an avid bowler who couldn't resist featuring his favorite passtime on his tombstone), booze lovers, mystics and motorcyclists. There are cowboys and klansmen, soldiers and surfers. The range of treatments is so astonishing, so upbeat, such fun, that the reader (well, the traveler/viewer--the book is almost all photographs) cannot help but begin thinking of his or her own funerary arrangements in a whole new light. The the real subject of this collection is one of vitality, personal expression, and hope of a heaven in which the people and activities we loved in life will be ours forever. If you like visual books, I urge you to track down a copy of this tome and share it with your friends.