Pushing the limits

Encounters with Body Worlds Creator Gunther von Hagens

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Who is Gunther von Hagens? To some, the creator of BODY WORLDS is an imposter, to others, he is a genius, and then there are those who see him as a monster and troublemaker. For the first time, relatives, friends, and colleagues who have accompanied him through various periods of his life reveal deep insights into this controversial personality. By means of their stories and anecdotes, they spotlight the hitherto unknown facets of this idiosyncratic anatomist. They tell of the serious and the funny, of the exciting and the offensive; but in any case, their tales of one of the mysterious figures of our times are adventurous and enthralling. Like pieces of a mosaic, the illustrated articles on his childhood, his escape from the socialist German Democratic Republic, his time as a university anatomist, and his role as producer of exhibitions form a multifarious encounter with the inventor of plastination and with his work. Gunther von Hagens, who got the book as a present for his 60ths birthday, was very surprised about the complexity of the stories and the choice of narrators: This book has given me back parts of my life, which I had already forgotten, for example my first tries of dissecting small animals in the woods of my hometown or my first failures in plastination. This book describes myself on the point and better than I ever could have done it.