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    Motel of the Mysteries
    Motel of the Mysteries
    Motel of the Mysteries
    Ebook86 pages23 minutes

    Motel of the Mysteries

    By David Macaulay

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    A future archeologist finds the remnants of a mysterious ancient people—us—in a wry satire that is “a marvel of imagination and . . . wonderfully illustrated” (The New York Times).
     
    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. Howard Carson, an amateur archeologist, is crossing the perimeter of an abandoned excavation site when he feels the ground give way beneath him. 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.
     
    Carson'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. These dramatic discoveries give Carson all the clues he needs to piece together the entire civilization—which he gets utterly wrong.
     
    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.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateOct 11, 1979
    ISBN9780547348629
    Motel of the Mysteries
    Author

    David Macaulay

    David Macaulay is an award-winning author and illustrator whose books have sold millions of copies in the United States alone, and his work has been translated into a dozen languages. Macaulay has garnered numerous awards including the Caldecott Medal and Honor Awards, the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award, the Christopher Award, an American Institute of Architects Medal, and the Washington Post–Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. In 2006, he was the recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, given “to encourage people of outstanding talent to pursue their own creative, intellectual, and professional inclinations.” Superb design, magnificent illustrations, and clearly presented information distinguish all of his books. David Macaulay lives with his family in Vermont.

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    Reviews for Motel of the Mysteries

    4/5

    185 ratings13 reviews

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    • 2/5
      The idea is good; sometime in the faraway future an archaeologist stumbles upon a twentieth century motel and tries to explain his finds. It makes you think about the way archaeological finds are explained nowadays. But after a few pages it becomes a bit of a trick. Look around in your own house and try to think of what someone from another time would think your stuff is used for.
    • 5/5
      It was once observed that if the standard terminology of archaeology was applied to the 20th century, we would speak of the 1945 invasion of Europe by the Washing-Machine People.This book takes that insight and runs with it.
    • 4/5
      Treating an old motel like the tomb of King Tut.
    • 4/5
      A perfect introduction to the study of history, this book chronicles the work of an amateur archaeologist in the year 4022 as he unearths the remains of a motel from the late 20th century. He pronounces it a tomb and makes inferences about burial rites. Common objects become objects of great reverence.
    • 5/5
      Not only is this satirical tale excellent, but the pen & ink artwork of David Macaulay is just exquisite!
    • 5/5
      It's really hard to describe this book. The book documents an archaelogical expedition excavating a generic cheap hotel. If you love documentaries showing you "Secrets of Egyptian Tombs" and such, you'll think this is hilarious. The archaeologist's analysis of the contents of the hotel room, and what the artificats are (a toilet seat thought to be a ceremonial object meant to be worn). Utterly hliarious.
    • 4/5
      Humorous with little flairs of satire all over, but ultimately the joke wears thin fairly quickly. Thankfully, this is a quick read with fun illustrations.
    • 5/5
      Parodies not only archaeological reconstructions, but archaeologists (Howard Carter), imagery (e.g. Sophia Schliemann wearing the "Jewels of Helen", museums....
    • 5/5
      According to the author, the book was based on various students of archeology reports that extrapolated from basic facts to wild flights of fancy that were sometimes amusing...but had no basis in the artifacts that had been found. And so it is with Motel of the Mysteries; Howard Carson stumbles (literally) into a major find of 20th Century America artifacts, and draws some amazing (and hilarious) conclusions from his finds. A fun eye-opener about archeology and our knowledge of the past.
    • 2/5
      What a great premise - humans of the far-off future excavate a hotel from the United States from the 1970s/1980s. It wasn't very well executed and didn't hold my interest. While obviously it was all meant in jest, the conclusions drawn by the archaeologists are ridiculous and only very minimally supported by the actual physical evidence. It was not my type of humor.
    • 4/5
      This is a very short book. I would imagine it is supposed to be geared to a younger audience. It involves the interpretations of 41st century archeologist in excavating a Motel 6 type roadside Motel. The excavation begins as satire of the opening of King Tut's tomb, and also has a send up of Schleiman's discovery of Troy. There are many amusing scenes were common objects are interpreted as religious artifacts.
    • 4/5
      An illustrated novella telling the story of archaeologists in the far future excavating the North American country of Usa. Focuses on a "burial site" (a motel room) and illustrates and speculates about all the artifacts found within. The speculations are wildly off base. I think this is meant to be a commentary on modern life and the way we idolize things we shouldn't? Not sure. The commentary about archaeology itself was obvious but seemed more jokey than satirical. It kind of missed the mark for me (and felt a little dated--maybe because we idolize different things wrongly now or in different ways than we did in 1979 when the book was published?). It was mildly amusing, and the way the illustrations and the text played on one another was fun. But I have to say I'm somewhat bemused.
    • 4/5
      A light, enjoyable and well illustrated book that can be enjoyed on two levels. For children and young adults it is just a fun story. For adults who are aware of the history of archeology and cultural anthropology the text and illustrations carry secondary amusing insights and references.

    Book preview

    Motel of the Mysteries - David Macaulay

    Copyright © 1979 by David Macaulay

    All rights reserved. For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to trade.permissions@hmhco.com or to Permissions, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company, 3 Park Avenue, 19th Floor, New York, New York 10016.

    hmhbooks.com

    The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:

    Macaulay, David.

    Motel of the mysteries.

    1. Civilization, Modern—1950– —Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc. 2. North America—Antiquities—Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc. I. Title.

    PN6231.C46M3 818'.5'407 79-14860

    ISBN 978-0-395-28424-7

    ISBN 978-0-395-28425-4 pbk.

    eISBN 978-0-547-34862-9

    v4.1220

    FOR RUTH, WITH LOVE

    Special thanks to Nancy Hechinger

    and Christopher Davis

    IN 1985 A CATACLYSMIC COINCIDENCE OF PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN PROPORTION EXTINGUISHED VIRTUALLY ALL FORMS OF LIFE ON THE NORTH AMERICAN CONTINENT.

    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.

    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.

    IN LESS THAN A DAY, THE MOST ADVANCED CIVILIZATION OF THE ANCIENT WORLD HAD PERISHED.

    The layers of pollutantus literati and pollutantus gravitas that covered the continent hardened into rock, and knowledge of the lost civilization almost vanished entirely. Interest was revived briefly about six hundred years ago with the discovery of fragments from a series of writings attributed to the late-twentieth-century Franco-Italian traveler Guido Michelin (no relation to the Anglo-Italian traveler Guido Blue). The meaning of the few legible symbols, mostly stars in various groupings, could not be deciphered, and the matter was eventually dropped.

    Four hundred years later a young and ambitious archeologist named Currant Bunliffe had a revelation. The suddenness of the catastrophe, he wrote in one of his notebooks, "combined with the subsequent solidification of the surreptitious substance

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