Dekkers buries readers under an avalanche of facts, hammering his point home with a sledgehammer style, but the book is, in fact, quite fun. And our art, our buildings, even the earth itself won't be spared from inevitable decay either. It can't be done, as Dekkers points out. Biology won't permit it, and neither will chemistry or engineering. Dekkers merrily leads readers down the road to perdition, pointing out all the fascinating stops along the way.
Nature offers examples on a larger scale.
Dekkers gleefully jumps on the many foolish efforts to build for eternity or to prolong life. Even extinction has something going for it, Dekkers argues. A baby boom is always followed by a grey boom. On the whole, however, this is a solid and satisfactory and perversely fun read. Richly illustrated with more examples of decay than most might want to see, it is a welcome change from the usual emphasis on perfection, restoration, and life.