While waiting for a body to be exhumed at a cemetery, Oz tells readers her story. She was raised by a family of corpses, then rescued by her neighbor, William Stark. Oz eventually becomes a philosophy professor in Mississippi, where she still interacts with the dead in her classes and faculty offices. The full story is told in My Life with Corpses.
Wylene Dunbar’s truly unique novel asks readers to open their minds to accept varying degrees and planes of existence. Both the author and her narrator are educated philosophers, so the story explores lots of compelling questions.
Chances are the average pleasure reader won’t have the answers or understand the questions being asked. My Life with Corpses is well written but difficult to fully comprehend. Jackson Pollock was a renowned talent, but there will always be those who can’t get past the paint splatters. Rigid, literal readers will have trouble visualizing this Dunbar canvas as well.
My Life with Corpses might be best explored by an ambitious book club. A group discussion would ensure readers don’t miss the subtleties of the tale. This Dunbar work is best read among friends.
