Structure

Bass presents his story through a variety of stories about different cases on which he has been called to confer. He opens with the story in which he describes being called upon to examine the bones of the Lindberg baby. It appears that Bass considers being only the second anthropologist allowed to examine these bones as the pinnacle of his career.

In the next chapters, Bass tells stories basically in chronological order. Within the stories, he weaves information about how the Body Farm is progressing as well as details about what is happening in his personal life. He ends with a chapter describing a health scare and detailing what he would like to happen to his body after his death.

Perspective

This story is written from the perspective of a forensic anthropologist. It deals with death and murder, but is not sentimental because Bass describes the deceased...