Reader Score
66%
66% of readers
recommend this book
Ever wonder which circles of Dante's Inferno have the nicest accommodations? Where's the best place to grab a bite to eat in the ancient Egyptian underworld? How does one dress like a local in the heavenly palace of Hinduism's Lord Vishnu, or avoid the flesh-eating river serpents in the Klingon afterlife? What hidden treasures can be found off the beaten path in Hades, Valhalla, or TV's The Good Place? Find answers to all those questions and more about the world(s) to come in this eternally entertaining book from Ken Jennings.
Written in the style of iconic bestselling travel guides, Jennings wryly outlines journeys through the afterlife, as dreamed up over 5,000 years of human history by our greatest prophets, poets, mystics, artists, and TV showrunners. This comprehensive index of 100 different afterlife destinations was meticulously researched from sources ranging from the Epic of Gilgamesh to modern-day pop songs, video games, and Simpsons episodes. Get ready for whatever post-mortal destiny awaits you, whether it's an astral plane, a Hieronymus Bosch hellscape, or the baseball diamond from Field of Dreams.
Fascinating, funny, and irreverent, this "gung-ho travel guide to Heaven, Hell, and beyond" (The New Yorker) will help you create your very own bucket list--for after you've kicked the bucket.
"One truth a reader gleans is that depictions of Heaven and Hell, though entertaining, can be blinkered in their imaginative world-building: the great beyond is suspiciously centered on the individual, namely, us."
"Jennings' new book takes on his knowledge of just about everything, and attempts to extend it to the great unknown: death. The book focuses on the afterlife — including heaven, hell and everything in between — as depicted in religion, pop culture, literature and more."