It's easy to dismiss taxidermy as a kitschy or morbid
sideline, the realm of trophy fish and jackalopes or an
anachronistic throwback to the dusty diorama. Yet theirs is a world
of intrepid hunter-explorers, eccentric naturalists, and gifted
museum artisans, all devoted to the paradoxical pursuit of creating
the illusion of life.Into this subculture of insanely passionate
animal lovers ventures journalist Melissa Milgrom, whose journey
stretches from the anachronistic family workshop of the last chief
taxidermist for the American Museum of Natural History to the
studio where an English sculptor, granddaughter of a surrealist
artist, preserves the animals for Damien Hirst's most disturbing
artworks. She wanders through Mr. Potter's Museum of Curiosities in
the final days of its existence to watch dealers vie for preserved
Victorian oddities, and visits the Smithsonian's offsite lab, where
taxidermists transform zoo skins into vivacious beasts. She tags
along with a Canadian bear trapper and former Roy Orbison
impersonator--the three-time World Taxidermy Champion--as he
resurrects an extinct Irish elk using DNA studies and Paleolithic
cave art for reference; she even ultimately picks up a scalpel and
stuffs her own squirrel. Transformed from a curious onlooker to an
empathetic participant, Milgrom takes us deep into the world of
taxidermy and reveals its uncanny appeal.
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