Motel of the Mysteries

Funny and Short

I wanted to read this because I had heard about it, but it wasn't nearly as good as I'd hoped. It was amusing, but could have been much better. Unfortunately, on a Nook, you can't read the print under the pictures which would add a lot I think. I'm still glad I read it, but wish it hadn't cost $9.99, for it was quite short.

Horrible!!!!

Do NOT buy this book in eBook format. The whole purpose of this book is the illustrations and they are unviewable in this format. The captions are unreadable as well. I am very, very dissapointed. I called customer service but they were most unhelpful. DON'T BUY THIS!

I read this 25+ years ago and I still remember it!

My brother and I found this at the library randomly when I was a kid. We also liked Castle by the same author, so that may be how we discovered this. It's very different from Castle -- that is more historical and this is more irreverent and funny. We must have spent hours and hours just pouring over the pages, noticing something new every time. I can still remember so much of it, especially the toilet paper point that other people mentioned! Can't wait to give this to another kid.

Best Children's Book Ever!

I stumbled across this book (and Black and White) in college when I was studying ritual and deconstruction and LOVED IT from the first and still 20 years later. It's thoughtful, provocative, intellectual, and HILARIOUS. It may have helped my enjoyment that as a kid, my parents used to say things like "I wonder what aliens would think of this if they landed here right now."

What will your descendants think? Think twice about what you leave behind!

I was thoroughly entertained by this clever book - the name David Macaulay should have been a give-away even before I opened it. The title didn't draw me in, but after the first page of illustrations and explanation, I was hooked. This is a delightful museum guide to an excavated motel by archeologists of the far future. The explanations given for objects found in a typical motel room are laugh-out-loud funny and provocative. Particularly enjoyable are the items found in the museum shop, such as the sacred point... They make me wonder what mistakes have been made about items displayed in our history museums now! People with no sense of humor or history might not find this book very amusing, but I don't spend time with the humorless if I can manage it.
The pen-and-ink drawings are also way above average artwork; the detailed work is very impressive. The book is a fast "read" but a longer "think and smile" event. What will the researchers think about your "stuff" someday? Be careful what you save or collect!

A must for all historians and arcaheologists

As a graduate student studying archaeology it is amazing how frequently this book becomes crucial to the understanding of the field. In no way would I classify this as a mearly a children¿s book but instead as a book to be read by all archaeologists and students of the discipline. It becomes more pertinent the more advanced you become. Fantastic work.

Brilliant and Funny!

This books is absolutely brilliant! And it gets you to thinking: what if archeologists have gotten things this wrong about ancient civilizations? What a smart, funny piece of work.

Hilarious book with fun illustrations

This book is hilarious -- you'll never look at toilet paper points the same again! Great to read again and again.

A must-have for every student of archaeology!

Everything is spoofed here, from Howard Carter to Heinrich Schliemann. Whenever I've seen someone with a copy of this book, it keeps getting passed around. If you are an archaeologist or student of archaeology and haven't ever read this, you are missing out!

If you're into Archeology, you'll dig this!

One of the funniest spoofs ever written. I can never stay in a motel again without laughing as I contemplate the 'altar' or look at the 'sacred point'

Wow!!

I think this book was outstanding! It's not an ordanairy kind of book. It lets U visualize the past future.

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No text was provided for this review.