Russell Shorto, author of the brand new, mesmerizing non-fiction book, “Descartes' Bones” will be on hand for a book signing at the Georgia Center for the Book/Dekalb Library, 215 Sycamore Street, Decatur, Georgia, at 7:15pm on Tuesday, Oct. 21.
This book is absolutely amazing, from the touching yet troubling moment when Shorto first sees Descartes’ skull in Paris to the part where I am right now, in a casino in Sweden.
According to Shorto, the book “follows the trail of the actual skull and bones of [philosopher] René Descartes, and also their metaphoric trail, and in so doing sketches what you might call a nonstandard pathway through the modern centuries. The book is part philosophy, part forensic science, detective story, history, love story... I suppose the ultimate idea was to remind myself, in the midst of the warring fundamentalisms of our era (Islamic, Christian, neocon, atheist), how modern society came to be, and what its strengths and limitations are. A pretty ponderous notion in itself, you will say, which is maybe why I found the exotic approach appealing.”