Taxidermy Art: A Rogue’s Guide to the Work, the Culture, and How to Do It Yourself

Marbury, director and cofounder of the Minnesota Association of Rogue Taxidermists, has compiled a history, how-to, and onlooker’s guide to roadkill art. The result is a collection of 100 works from taxidermy artists worldwide, along with a history of the craft and its edgy pioneers and do-it-yourself instructions, which start with a “squirrel lesson” that uses dead creatures. When the what-you-will-need section begins with “squirrel carcass,” it is obvious this is no tulle-and-glue-gun craft guide. The catalog has similarly riveting and revolting entries, including, among others, Rod McRae’s Crying Loud in the Age of Stupid, which shows a baby polar bear poised on a partially submerged refrigerator, and the Beaver Eating Human Thumb by Scott Bibus, whose work Marbury describes as having a “gleeful, mischievous tone... such as a squirrel disemboweling itself.” If nothing else, guests around the coffee table will have plenty to talk about when they see the crucified parrot Iesus Nazarenus. (Oct.)