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: Who Doesn't Like Dead Bodies?
Summary: 5 Stars
Or who doesn't after reading this book? Roach is an amazing writer. She approaches this delicate subject with a good balance of humor, respect, and enthusiasm, and the reader can't help but be absorbed immediately.
Each chapter is spent discussing a possible "life" for a human cadaver. There are many expected courses, such as anatomy dissections and cremations, but also many unexpected courses, such as crash test dummy calibrator, ballistics assistant, compost, and ingredient for folk (and snake oil-type) remedies. If you are extremely squeamish, you may be well-advised to avoid this book, but chances are, if you are extremely squeamish, you're not interested anyway. Roach does a good job, however, of not immersing the reader in overly disgusting descriptions (at one point, she decides the word "maggot" is not very nice, so she refers to them instead as "haciendas"). She simply presents the facts as they are.
Roach has researched her subject extremely thoroughly and I came away with a treasure trove of fascinating facts (now I just have to figure out how to drop them into conversation!). One of the best aspects of the book is Roach's writing. She is hilarious, and I found myself laughing out loud in every chapter. This was an excellent, intriguing book, and I can't wait to read her next book, Spooks!
Book Review: Bad Book...Sensationalist
Summary: 1 Stars
First for the skeptics interested in this book...her "expert" is Dr. Oz. He is interviewed several times in the book. This purveyor of woo woo and poop is her expert on death and the dead.
I bought this book after hearing the author speak on a podcast and the impression that I got was that it would be informative with a bit of dark humor thrown in. This book did not live up to the hype.
Secondly, the macabre subject is continually dealt a bad blow throughout the entire book. I did find the first few chapters okay. The one about the crash "coroner" and the one on how a "donated to science" body is handled since I have a family member who wishes to go this route when he dies. But by the end of the book it loses steam The chapter on "frankestein" where she interviews neurosurgeon Robert J. White was ridiculous. Dr. White did very heavy and strange animal research about brain transplantation but she makes it sound like he was a freakshow instead of a researcher. The research he did brought about many of the "cooling" techniques that are used for all types of conditions from heart attacks to spinal trauma but she makes him sound like a mad scientist who enjoyed hurting animals.
I didn't even finish the book because the last chapters proved too boring and tedious.
Book Review: Who knew?
Summary: 5 Stars
As one of the people in this book says, it's "very important to feel I'm not crazy" for thoroughly enjoying this book. Who knew how many dead bodies are still contributing to society in such diverse areas as automobile safety, crime and punishment, religion, gardening, and nutrition?
Mary Roach has written an informative and entertaining book about the acquisition and use of cadavers from history to modern times. The first four chapters - "A Head is a Terrible Thing to Waste," "Crimes of Anatomy," "Life After Death," and "Dead Man Driving" - are hilarious but tender as well, mixed in with references to the death of the author's mother and reactions of the people working with corpses. What's most impressive is how she manages to be comical without ever being disrespectful toward these bodies. Maybe it's not possible to re-animate the dead as discussed in one chapter, but she was able to humanize them.
Readers can potentially take comfort from chapter eight, which makes it clear that your death can now be confirmed, and chapter nine, which gives hope to those who would consider a head transplant in order to live forever. After finishing this book, I wouldn't say that I'm looking forward to becoming a cadaver but I may not feel so much dread when the time is near.
Book Review: de-mystifying death
Summary: 4 Stars
It's polite, of course, not to discuss dead bodies. Mary Roach must have missed that memo. (Not that she's necessarily impolite; she's just willing to go where few others dare.) This is a good thing, for she's put together a fascinating book.
We all have preconceptions about what happens when we "go," but Roach has vividly captured the decay in descriptive detail, giving macabre shape to our imaginations. And not only does she describe how the body breaks down after death, she also reports on how bodies are "used": in medical school anatomy labs; in automobile crash tests; and in forensic studies of rates and stages of decay (at the "Body Farm"), to name but a few. Roach also explores embalming and cremation, as well as some newer, more experimental methods of disposal and burial, such as breaking bodies down using high-pressure chemical baths and using bodies as fertilizer (which may be taking hold in Scandinavia).
Roach writes with seriousness but also with wit and humor appropriate to the topic. The book loses a considerable amount of steam as it progresses and moves away from the cadavers themselves into the realm of applications and debates. The first chapters are by far the most vivid, the most riveting, and the best. But nevertheless: highly recommended.
Book Review: A great read for any forensic medicine professional in training.
Summary: 5 Stars
I can't believe this book is selling for less than $10. Stiff is filled with historical facts and tons of information about how we do things now and the journey we took to get here. The author is a woman who went through great strides to write this book - she is very well versed and has a few experiences under her belt that even most of those in the field of forensics don't have. I'm only half way through the book, but I've already learned so much! So far, she has told of her adventures at the Tennessee Body Farm and some kind of surgical race to do...certain things. Which reminds me: this book is NOT for the squeamish. She goes into great detail on body decomposition, anatomy, embalming process, and the history of modern-day organ donating. It will probably not be a good read for those under 13 also for some sexual content (it is the human body after all and many strange things happen after death). Anyway, back to the author. I like her because she always manages to put a smirk on my face. She has so many weird tidbits of info and just her outlook and the comments she makes is enough to do me in. I recommend this book to those who want to go into medicine, forensic medicine, embalming, funeral directing, anatomists, or the just plain curious. Good read and a STEAL at this price!!!