One for the Beach

In Rag and Bone: A Journey among the World's Holy Dead, Peter Manseau embarks on a global odyssey in search of the "dismembered toes, splinters of shinbone, stolen bits of hair, burned remnants of an anonymous rib cage, and other odds and ends" belonging to saints and other sacred figures. The book could have been ghoulish, but Manseau's irreverent approach and enthusiasm keep the tone surprisingly light. He examines the curious dissemination of pieces of saints around the globe, meets a cast of fellow enthusiasts and explores the fringes of devotion. Most notable is the pious Portuguese woman who, in a fit of ecstacy, is said to have bitten off the little toe of St. Francis Xavier, whose damaged cadaver lures Manseau to the Roman Catholic enclave of Goa, India: "To look at the foot now -- with at least three digits missing -- is to wonder if she got away with an even bigger bite."