Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
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Book Reviews of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Book Review: Engaging, thought-provoking material written with snappy prose!
Summary: 5 Stars
In a society that's generally very hush-hush and euphemistic about death, Stiff peels back the sheet (as it were, heh heh heh) on all the things that may happen to a person's body after s/he dies. Some people might find this morbid, but I believe it's good to be candid about death -- after all, we ALL go through it, and (as the book explores) we can be used in a myriad of ways, even after we die. I don't want to paraphrase what you'll find because it takes the fun out of it, but some of the topics covered in the book include --
* How we naturally decay
* Bodies used for dissection at medical schools
* Crash test cadaver dummies
* Disturbing experiments done in the 18th and 19th centuries
* New and alternative ways to dispose of your remains
* The "body farm" in Tennessee (check out those haciendas...)
And more! Everything is presented in glorious, juicy detail, with a thick bibliography to back the information up.
The author approaches the subject with a clear, conversational, and humorous style. She manages to sound respectful towards the deceased, but at the same time showing us that post-death, a cadaver's journey can be useful, disgusting, bittersweet, disturbing, hilarious. The prose is snappy and witty and fun and made you want to keep reading.
Some parts of the book were unexpectedly moving, like the chapter on dissection cadavers and their medical students. A close friend of mine is in med school and often tells me what she felt dissecting her cadaver (she felt "proud" of him for being such a fine specimen, his eyelashes made him the most human, his scars from past surgeries made her morose). The chapter in this book really reflected that strange student/cadaver relationship. I'm not gonna lie, I welled up in every part of the book where people expressed their gratitude for their cadaver.
Ultimately, in addition to providing a jam-packed ton of facts about the dead human body, this book manages to be uplifting. grateful, and life-affirming. Knowledge is power, and this book gives the reader power in deciding for themselves what to do with their bodies post-mortem (or what NOT to do). The honesty, humor, and lack of gloom-and-doom makes us realize that death is truly an integral part of life.
Warning: FANTASTIC book, but it gets graphic at times. If you know you can't stomach reading in detail about a rotting body, then you might want to get mentally prepared beforehand. Use your own discretion.
Book Review: Overrated
Summary: 2 Stars
I only bought this book because it looked like one of those everyman science books that everybody reads and likes, sort of like the Thomas Friedman of corpse history. I found myself disappointed and annoyed, both by the book and its hype.
The first thing that bothered me about Stiff was how deceiving the subtitle was. I expected Roach to lead me on some kind of exploration of how cadavers have worked to improve our lives in some way, of how they have been the quiet army progressing mankind along. Instead, Roach led me to a forcefully unfunny diary entry about how she went different places and talked to different people and reacted in different ways, all this related to dead bodies. This isn't the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers; this is the Subjectively Curious Life of Mary Roach as She Pretends to Research Human Cadavers.
The second bothersome thing was Roach's style. I understand that she's trying to be funny, but I laughed out loud once, maybe two times, when all the reviews spat about how hilarious the book is. Maybe if you're high, or giggle when someone holds up an index finger and says the word "pen." Maybe if you understand the author's intentions... But seriously, all of Roach's editorializing on her research and subject matters became a tiresome assault on my brain and interest.
Roach doesn't get her act together in terms of research until the middle-to-end portion of the book, and even then, her work is scant. The body of Stiff is Roach documenting her misadventures, when the saving grace of this disappointment is, alas, the factual accounts that she finally gets down to toward the conclusion. If this book had been given its rightful editing and someone had the good sense to tell Roach to stop with all the "funnies" and stick more with the facts than proving to the world that Comedy Central should call her about that slot on Friday Night Stand-up, this book would've been ten times better. Such as it is, though, it barely merits the two stars I allotted it because of its barebones factual information.
Christ, this isn't even a good beach read. If you want an interesting history of something, read Cocaine by Dominic Stretfeild. He weaves his own life into his work, too, but unlike Roach, he at least has a factual baseline to override his stories, which are funnier than hers in the first place, without any dorky addendums or asterisked passages.
Book Review: Can't look, can't look away
Summary: 4 Stars
This book contains all you ever wanted to know about dead bodies, along with all that you didn't want to know, plus everything you didn't know you wanted to know. Mary Roach asks all of the questions that us laypeople aren't in a position to ask, or are too afraid to Google because if we're ever involved in a murder investigation, the search history would be damning. One of the most interesting parts of all of that is the number of people she interviews with jobs that you never knew existed - like the woman whose job it is to cut off cadavers' heads so cosmetic surgeons can practice on them, or the guy who sets up dead bodies in a lot in different scenarios and examines them at various stages of decomposition to help forensic analysts determine time of death.
Cutting off cadavers' heads sounds gruesome, but apparently the modern-day approach to dead people is positively beatific compared to how they were treated prior to about 1950. There are enough sordid details there to merit several films, two bestellers, and a 60 Minutes expose. In terms of ethics and the humane-ness of it all, I had less trouble with the chapter on cannibalism than I did with the section on head transplants. Her descriptions of multi-headed dogs and disembodied brains almost made me glad for PETA. Almost.
This is the sort of book that you can't look away from - and that's a problem, sometimes. For the love of god, Ms. Roach, stop with the food comparisons! Among the foods that I won't eat for another month at least: chocolate syrup, lasagna, rice grains, cooked rice, chicken soup - any kind of yellow soup, actually, and anything with red sauce. All in all, it's an excellent book, though, with a sense of humor that you're glad of by the third or fourth chapter.
Good lines:
"We are biology. We are reminded of this at the beginning and the end, at birth and at death. In between, we do what we can to forget."
This one sums up the book the best, probably:
"The recipe in Thompson's book for a batch of King Charles' Drops...contained not only Spirit of Skull, but a half a pound of opium and four fingers (the unit of measurement, not the actual digits) of spirit of wine."
I love that she has to specify.
Book Review: Don't judge a book by its cover, or its title . . .
Summary: 5 Stars
Had I done so, I would have missed out on one of the funniest books I've read in a very, very long time. When I first saw this book I asked myself, "who in the right mind would write a book about dead bodies?" Even more disturbing to me was, "why would anyone want to read such a book?" Just the same, I thought I'd pick it up and glance through it (maybe that could be called the "National Enquirer Effect?"). Surprisingly, my cursory glance through it seemed to tell me that this might, just might be interesting to read.
I did not; however, decide to purchase it right away. Instead, I looked at a lot of other books (all of which seemed to on more altruistic topics) before I finally decided to pick up a copy on my way to the checkout counter. Even though, I couldn't help but wonder - what is the clerk going to think of me if I buy a book on DEAD BODIES.
Then, to compound matters, I came down with a summer cold (what could be worse?) later that evening and, not feeling like doing anything (even reading was tough) so I picked up what I thought might be the most mindless (no pun intended) book in my pile of things to read - and this was a no-brainer. While I'm not quite over the horrible summer cold yet (between the meds, sleeping, and normal cold things), I've spent the last couple of days laughing all the way through this amazingly hilarious and yet highly informative book (I admit, I have had to put it down many times whenever my coughing hacks and postnasal drip got the best of me).
Stiff was not only highly entertaining (and a good respite from the death grip my cold had on me), but was actually an extremely fascinating and enlightening look about one of the most taboo topics in our culture - what happens to our bodies after they die. Not wanting to provide any spoilers (many others already have), I will say that Roach looks at just about everything imaginable (with the exception of turning your dead grandmother into a diamond - a process that may not have yet been invented at the time Stiff was written).
Never in a million years would I have thought I might recommend a book on cadavers to anyone. After reading Stiff, I would recommend this book without hesitation - believe me, it'll just kill you. :)
Book Review: Don't be afraid to whiff this Stiff.Cadavers can be fun.
Summary: 4 Stars
I am a psychiatric nurse so death is not so prevalent in my field. It occurs ever so often, mostly self inflicted, despite our best efforts to protect the patient from his or herself.It is inevitable and there is nothing we can do about it if the patient is that intent on doing themselves in, period,end of story.When I told my 13 year old daughter all about the book I just finished,about how cadavers or dead bodies could have such interesting lives after death,how I told her she would enjoy it, how interesting it would make her lunchtime conversation with her friends all she was able to say was ok dad, ewwwww as she ran upstairs.Despite her unseen review,I myself have to say that this is one cool book.I admire the candid, quite regular, friendly tone it delivers as if you were talking to a close friend about their uniquely, morbidly, exquisite report on what makes cadavers tick.The sometimes extended existance of said cadavers after death and how much we don't know about them,and just what is or can be done with them is explored in a reporter like fashion and is highly readable and you will fly through this book,guaranteed.Research mostly, but a myriad of other conventional and not so conventional uses that span the globe.Every culture has a viewpoint about what to do with or dispose of their dead.Roach tackles this with class and grace as well as a humorously good attitude.The journalistic approach is apparent as she goes after her prey.No one is immune including funeral directors,crematory bosses,airline and auto crash analysts and others,none are safe from her prying but sensitive approach.This book is a wonderful addition to the bookshelf of anybody who finds this stuff even remotely exciting.This is a book that can only lead one to future inquiry about the subject matter.It may make you think twice about taking an airplane or just what your plastic surgeon does to keep his skills fresh for your next nip and tuck.Stiff is for stiff upper lip readers who enjoy reading about the unseen,unreported world of our dearly departed, who sometimes travel more than most of us in a lifetime.