Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Mary Roach
Beloved, best-selling science writer Mary Roach’s classic, now with a new epilogue. 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 confirmation surgery, cadavers have helped make history in their quiet way. Stiff investigates the strange lives of our bodies postmortem and answers the question: What should we do after we die?
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I’ve wanted to read this book for years! I really enjoyed the audiobooks. It was perfect to listen to while hiking or doing chores! It was like a podcast since each chapter was about an hour long and about a different subject.
I think Roach’s writing is very funny and entertaining and she has such a fun way of turning phrases. I feel like this work was really educational but also very powerful - I have definitely been questioning why exactly I feel such an aversion to people doing things with my dead body when those things are such a benefit to society! I imagine the book as had the same impact on others.
My only issue with the book was the fact that it doesn’t really do well as a novel. I’ve found this often to be the case with journalists who publish longer length non fiction pieces. The individual chapters and threads feel distinct and fascinating, but they’re not well-woven together. I think it’s missing a central thread to make everything more cohesive.
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