Still Life: Adventures in Taxidermy

What an interesting book! Author Melissa Milgrom does her homework as she explores the history and current status of "high-end" taxidermy. What the book is NOT is a "how-to-do-it" manual, and it is NOT an exploration of the "hook and bullet" taxidermy business. Instead, Milgrom identifies some of the most passionate and skilled people involved in the art and the science of preserving and recreating vertebrate animals. So what IS taxidermy? "Taxidermy is the art of taking an animal's treated skin and stretching it over an artificial form such as a manikin, then carefully modeling its features in a lifelike attitude" (p. 5). One of the people she interviewed noted that poses should reflect "the nuance of nature, not the hand of man" (p. 38). This certainly wouldn't be a universal definition, but those high-end experts would thumb their noses at poses that don't reflect anatomy and behavior. As animal sculptor Emily Mayer (who calls herself an "anti-taxidermist") shared with Milgrom, "Real is REALLY real, and reality is unsettling, because it is often ugly and macabre" (p. 124). These high-end taxidermists are perfectionists, no doubt. Those hairs in the nostrils need to be in the proper place, and there better be no sutures showing. The technical ability of the Schwendemans, the creative energy of Mayer, and the focused passion of Ken Walker, really are great examples of what this book is (about artists and their art) and what it is not (stuffing animals). And when Milgrom bites the bullet and attempts her first mount, a gray squirrel, you feel her trials and want her to succeed, to make the squirrel reflect "the nuance of nature, not the hand of man." Very interesting, and very well-written. Mounts have a finite life, so the history of taxidermy is really a history of the past 300 years. Milgrom gives you a fair taste of the characters, the competitions, and the efforts that go into making real... real.

This book is fascinating, curious, compassionate and entirely enchanting. I cannot remember the last work of nonfiction that made me want to travel to the places described in it, let alone four or five places, and one of them being the World Taxidermy Championship! Milgrom is a magnificent writer. Her prose is vivid, simple and beautiful. She does a wonderful job weaving together portraits, history, and reportage. It is a work infused not just with the Victorian sense of wonder at the Natural world, but of the present equally wonderous one we inhabit today. Somehow she transforms taxidermy from a craft that is both odd and creepy into something oddly touching. I loved this book.

Still Life is the kind of book that makes you want to be a journalist. With the skill of a secret agent, Melissa Milgrom insinuated herself into the surreal world of taxidermy. She made friends with all of the major players, and was able to write a book with an unbelievably broad scope. What I loved about the book was the way it jumped from present day to historic. She fleshed out her observations (pun intended), by exploring their historical context. I really enjoyed learning about the Smithsonian and AMNH from the taxidermists perspective. These are two of my favorite museums in the world, and my appreciation for them has certainly been deepened by Still Life. Not only did she observe taxidermists, but she became one. She stuck her head in the fetid stench of a pickling barrel. She was up to her elbows in squirrel blood. It was GREAT! She even wrote objectively about the "constructive criticism" her squirrel got at a competition. One warning: I like to read a book while I'm eating dinner. You can't do that with this book. Milgrom's descriptions are way too graphic for mealtime reading. Any other time of the day, though, the book is great.

There were a number of reasons I wanted to read this book. I've known some taxidermists and I admire their skill. Carl Akeley was a boyhood hero and I've had a lifelong interest in natural history. A big game hunter in the town where my maternal grandparents lived displayed his mounted trophies in the large front window of his office. As a boy, I often stood there, admiring them, thinking of the places he'd been and the adventures he'd had. Milgrom introduces the reader to a host of people, living and dead, who are equally as interesting as Akeley. She documents changing attitudes about natural history and the manner in which museums depict it, the conservatism of North American taxidermists in contrast to the more pragmatic Europeans, and a host of other interesting and thought-provoking tidbits. As Milgrom notes, many consider the display of dead animals as freakish. Fortunately, she doesn't treat taxidermists as freaks. Those she interviewed reveal themselves as humble, hardworking and dedicated to their craft. Some are hunters while others won't kill to acquire specimens. Some may be eccentric, but none can be accurately labeled as freakish. Many will deny it, but the good ones are truly artists. The author starts out curious but a bit squeamish about her subject and ends up an enthusiastic participant as she mounts and exhibits a squirrel in a national competition. She also gave us a well-written and thoroughly captivating book.

Ms. Milgrom really gets into the nitty gritty of taxidermy the art in this book. She shadows some of the worlds greatest taxidemists and gets into superb detail regarding the art as well as the science of taxidermy. I picked this book on a lark thinking it was mostly into photography but that is not the case at all. In fact, as she gets immersed in the art she actually takes it up herself. Taxidermy is an important way to chronicle the science of comparative anatomy. If it weren't for some famous taxidermists such as John J Audubon we would not have a look at many extinct species. But,this book gets into more than the science of taxidermy, it touches the soul of taxidermy. What some may see as morbid or even downright animal cruelty is shed in a whole new, interesting light. Some may shudder at the thought of this profession, but if you read this you will see it totally diferently.