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Stiff

The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

By Mary Roach

(58)

| Paperback | 9780393324822

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Book Description

"One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year....Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting."—Entertainment Weekly

Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadaverContinue

"One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year....Gross, educational, and unexpectedly sidesplitting."—Entertainment Weekly

Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers—some willingly, some unwittingly—have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.

In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries—from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth-century Europe to a human decay research facility in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

Critics

  • Meat and mind

    Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach 304pp, Viking, £14.99 In an article about the controversial United States "death tax" - an estate inheritance tax - a political commentator pointed out that it was a misnomer: only 2% of Americ ... (read full critics)

    guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

  • Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers By Mary Roach

    To write a book about cadavers, you have to get in to see some. This is harder than you'd think. You'd think dead people would be easy to make appointments with. Their schedules are pretty open and they rarely go out of town. But of course dead peopl ... (read full critics)

    bookpage published on Fri, 17 Sep 2010

7 Reviews

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  • 3 people find this helpful

    This is a book about dead bodies. And about what happens to them after they're dead, especially if they're donated to science (though there is a bit on cannibalism and alternative decomposition practises - the lye bath (whose technical name I've already forgotten) and human composting - and other no ... (continue)

    This is a book about dead bodies. And about what happens to them after they're dead, especially if they're donated to science (though there is a bit on cannibalism and alternative decomposition practises - the lye bath (whose technical name I've already forgotten) and human composting - and other non-donation topics). It's ridiculously fascinating, it's amusing, it's a little disgusting, it makes being dead seem a little bit absurd, it makes me glad you can't smell any of what you're reading about. I recommend it entirely. It's not too stomach-turning unless you're entirely too squeamish.

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    Hold Your Spin said on Dec 1, 2006 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Mary Roach uses a humorous approach to describing the many uses man has made of cadavers, from crash test dummies to the Body Farm. It's good. It's funny. It's informative.

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    Missmath144 said on Sep 22, 2008 | Add your feedback

  • 1 person find this helpful

    Mary Roach is the twisted person's Bill Bryson. Like Bryson she is both humorous and informative. Again and again she had me chuckling over the many ways the dead can help the living. With the exception of two chapters in the second half of the book I thought Stiff was a solid read.

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    Grow A Neuron said on Sep 20, 2008 about the Hardcover edition | Add your feedback


  • a re-read
    all her early books are interesting...

    check-out Mary Roach video at; authors@google.com

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    Alexanderb said on Jan 22, 2012 | Add your feedback

  • Non-fiction has never been easier to digest. Mary Roach narrates the use of cadavers in a hilarious and sobering way all at the same time.

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    The Underdog said on Jan 13, 2010 | Add your feedback

  • Overrated

    Roach had so far written 3 books. This is her first one, which is about human cadavers. The second one tells stories about spirits and afterlife. And the third one is on sex. As Roach says she's a voyeur, I really can't agree more.

    I expected Stiff would focus on the usages of cadavers in mode ... (continue)

    Roach had so far written 3 books. This is her first one, which is about human cadavers. The second one tells stories about spirits and afterlife. And the third one is on sex. As Roach says she's a voyeur, I really can't agree more.

    I expected Stiff would focus on the usages of cadavers in modern science, I was a little disappointed after the first few chapters. When she mentioned about decapitation and head transplants, she took a sensational approach instead of a scientific manner. The chapter of cannibalism looks empty to me. I prefered to understand more about the workability of having candavers as a medical cure, as Roach claimed there's a long history in the East.

    Overall, this is more likely to be a book of neophilia which dressed as a pop science writing. .

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    Yao said on Oct 13, 2009 | Add your feedback

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