Saturday, November 01, 2008

UNHOLY BUSINESS by Nina Burleigh, is reviewed by Jonathan Lopez in Citizen.com Excerpt:
For all its good points, "Unholy Business" is not a deep book. You won't learn much about archaeology or ancient cultures by reading it. And Burleigh's lack of any specialized background in her subject is at times problematic. Notably, she seems unable to describe or analyze the formal qualities of the artifacts at the center of the story. Indeed, it is very difficult to visualize them without referring to the section of photographs in the middle of the book.

Likewise, her writing style is nothing if not exuberant: The pages turn and the narrative zips along, but there are many passages where the prose goes for baroque in a way that is difficult to admire. A sunset is "a primal kaleidoscope in the heavens." The antiquities trade is "a death match between reason and superstition, monitored by laughing commerce."

Still, "Unholy Business" spins a good yarn. It offers a window onto a world about which few of us know very much, and although it isn't likely to become the definitive book on the James ossuary or the larger subject of forged antiquities, it's an entertaining and worthwhile read.
Background here.