motel of the mysteries by david macaulay

THAT AFTERNOON, IMPURITIES THAT HAD APPARENTLY HUNG UNNOTICED IN THE AIR FOR CENTURIES FINALLY SUCCUMBED TO THE FORCE OF GRAVITY AND COLLAPSED ON WHAT WAS LEFT OF AN ALREADY STUNNED POPULATION. ON THE MORNING OF NOVEMBER 29, AN ACCIDENTAL REDUCTION IN POSTAL RATES ON A SUBSTANCE CALLED THIRD- AND FOURTH-CLASS MAIL LITERALLY BURIED THE NORTH AMERICANS UNDER TONS OF BROCHURES, FLIERS, AND SMALL CONTAINERS CALLED FREE.

IN 1985 A CATACLYSMIC COINCIDENCE OF PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PROPORTION EXTINGUISHED VIRTUALLY ALL FORMS OF LIFE ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT. North America-Antiquities-Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc. Civilization, Modern-1950– -Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc.

The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:ġ. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016. The acclaimed author and illustrator of Castle and Pyramid, David Macaulay presents a wonderfully tongue-in-cheek satire of both historical presumption and American self-importance. These dramatic discoveries give Carson all the clues he needs to piece together the entire civilization-which he gets utterly wrong. Suddenly, he finds himself at the bottom of a shaft, which, judging from the DO NOT DISTURB sign hanging from an archaic doorknob, is clearly the entrance to a still-sealed burial chamber.Ĭarson's incredible discoveries, including the remains of two bodies, one laid to rest on a ceremonial bed facing an altar that appeared to be a means of communicating with the Gods and the other lying in a porcelain sarcophagus in the Inner Chamber. Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist, is crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site when he feels the ground give way beneath him. It is the year 4022, and the entire ancient country of Usa has been buried under many feet of detritus from a catastrophe that occurred back in 1985. wonderfully illustrated” ( The New York Times). A future archeologist finds the remnants of a mysterious ancient people- us-in a wry satire that is “a marvel of imagination and . . .

Motel of the mysteries by david macaulay