The helpful dead
Two books about death. Reviews: The Intimacy of Images, Myriam Lamrani; and Moved by the Dead, Michael Amoruso, by Gavin O’Toole
The Intimacy of Images: Saints, Death, and Devotion to La Santa Muerte in Oaxaca, Myriam Lamrani, 2025, University of Texas Press
Given the extent to which violence has permeated the way of life in swathes of Mexico, it is hardly surprising that people pray to death itself. Literally.
Saint Death, or La Santa Muerte, is a well-known ghoulish character in …