Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Ratings281
Average rating3.9
Interesting topic, made me think, clearly well researched, became a bit of a slog by the end.
I'm sure this would have been a great book, but after reading the first chapter, I think I might be a tad too squeamish to handle the rest. Bummer.
I've recommended this so many times to patrons. Fascinating read, i think I would have preferred it on audio.
Have used it as a selection for reluctant readers. I found it fascinating but you need a pragmatic view of scientific research.
Mary Roach does an impeccable job of discussing a complicated topic in an approachable way. Death and dying are topics that make many people uncomfortable, but ultimately dying is something everyone is going to experience at some point. I went into this book already having a very open mindset about cadavers. I was already interested in donating my organs, and have explored the idea of donating my body to science. I believe that all of us benefit from advances in medicine that have happened as a result of people who came before us donating their bodies to science, and it is only right to do my part and allow for the continuation of this process. This book helped me appreciate how truly wide the impact of cadavers on research is. Some of these uses are not so glamourous, but ultimately a lot of advances in automotive safety, forensics, and medicine have come about as a result of working with cadavers. I was also glad to find out that this is not an exposé about how cadavers are mistreated in today's society. Instead, it brought tears to my eyes to read about how many people treat cadavers with a lot of respect and care. I previously assumed that most people working in the medical field would treat cadavers as equipment or solely biological material. Surprisingly, many medical students treat the cadavers with a lot of reverence and care, and it made me more accepting of the idea of donating my own body. When this book was recommended to me, I did not realize that it came out back in 2003. I think overall many of the sentiments about the dead have not changed since its release– many Americans are still divided about burying embalmed bodies vs choosing cremation, and “green burials” are still far from mainstream. I do feel that the content is still important, and its focus on the history of cadavers also makes the book timeless. It will always be interesting to read about how intertwined medical schools and grave robbing were, and the myths and facts of cannibalism in the past. I would definitely recommend this book to others, with the caveat that it probably isn't for the squeamish. I work in medical research and have seen a number of gross things in my time, but I could still feel my hands get a little clammy reading Roach describe some of the sights and smells she encountered during her fieldwork. I would honestly love to see Roach work on an update to Stiff at some point as I would be very curious to see how the field has changed over time. Are there new areas of research that require the use of cadavers? Are there fields where the use of cadavers has been retired? Research at body farms is ongoing in the US; what new developments have there been over the last 20 years and what is being planned for the future? Looking forward to reading [b:Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife 14990 Spook Science Tackles the Afterlife Mary Roach https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1401287778l/14990.SX50.jpg 2398507], [b:Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal 18377999 Gulp Adventures on the Alimentary Canal Mary Roach https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1391866061l/18377999.SX50.jpg 19216563], and [b:Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law 56769577 Fuzz When Nature Breaks the Law Mary Roach https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1619615618l/56769577.SY75.jpg 88729211] soon!
4.5/5 stars
This is not a book for everyone. As mentioned by the author, a lot of people will find this book disrespectful. Especially due to the humorous approach the author decides to take. Some jokes were funny, others were a miss. Although I liked that the jokes didn't seem to overshadow the rest of the book. I also liked how it was clear how much research the author had put into the book. Even though this book was written in 2003, a lot of the information is still very relevant today.
I would hesitantly recommend this book because, while I can handle heavy topics such as depth, not a lot of people can. Some chapters can go into quite a bit of detail about how the procedures are done and what happens to the human body after certain things happen to it.
As a med student and as someone who watched the whole of Six Feet Under series in under 6 days, in the recent past, I would characterize the first three chapters of this book as mildly interesting and the rest of it as sleep inducing - not curious, definitely not. No one suggested this book to me. I picked it as a random read. It is my fault that this terrible thing has happened. You see, the first image that came to my mind as I read the catching title of the book was that of a middle-aged introverted bespectacled pathologist elbow deep in a cadaver's body cavity standing in a dimly lit morgue in the basement with flickering lights and a buzzing refrigerator, walls painted green. I imagined some good soul coaxed this recluse to share her knowledge and the secrets of the dead she gleaned over decades of dedicated work. I hadn't heard of Mary Roach before. And I didn't this media-like person butting in while science people doing science. You could call me elitist. But I have seen the other books she wrote, there is an image of her in zero gravity simulation on Google. I don't really mind her writing this book, I'm just envious that she gets do all that without even a degree in science.
Over 11 chapters the author narrates an account of her visits to experts in various fields that make use of cadavers for different purposes. I went into the book with only the idea of medical and academic uses of cadavers in mind. It is true that 80% of cadavers end up in anatomy labs, but there are few other intriguing final resting places too. Like the compost or someone else's stomach. The author gets into all this in a really detailed fashion (only detailed not deep) and at times veering off to obscure history.
Humor is an essential part of the book. It's what makes this palatable. Though at times I felt that it was a little overdone, I have no complaints in that regard. It is a funny book. You get to read stuff like:
“Compost should not be ugly,” she is saying. “It should be lively, it should be romantic.”“There are ten fetuses here, all aborted this morning,” the Express reporter claims she was told...“Normally we doctors take them home to eat, Since you don't look well, you can take them.”
I have a new found appreciation for modern medicine and the people who contributed to it (alive and dead). Humor in a book about dead bodies does not come out as disrespectful. In fact how people, who have to shoot at cadavers, put them in cars and simulate head on collisions, everyday as part of their jobs is discussed multiple times, throughout the book. There are also chapters on beating hard cadavers (brain dead people for organ transplant) and cannibalism and early experiments on brain transplant.
Someone who is not acquainted to the topic and is not too squeamish might find this interesting.
“Because all the bacteria in the mouth chew through the palate,” explains Arpad. And because brains are soft and easy to eat. “The brain liquefies very quickly. It just pours out the ears and bubbles out the mouth”
If you are okay with that sentence, you may try this book. Happy reading!
p.s : you may skip the shroud of turin chapter, some guy trying to prove the shroud was real after crucifying recently dead cadavers. It adds nothing to the book.
I learned quite a bit reading this book! I'm not sure that I would recommend it to anyone, or that I'd ever really want to read it or anything like it again. However, I did learn A TON. So, three stars.
Finally read this, almost 20 years after it was published. While some of the science she reported on is no longer new or controversial, the book still holds up, mostly for the behind the scenes glimpses into the worlds of the study of decomposition, anatomy, and crashes. The chapter on the effect of bullets on the human body is upsetting when you think about the relaxation of gun laws (specifically assault rifles) since it the book was written.
Nu ar fi trebuit sa rad asa de mult citind aceasta carte, dar autoarea chiar se pricepe sa imbine subiecte destul de macabre cu lucruri normale si amuzante. Abia astept sa devin compost!
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in what types of things bodies donated to science are used for, and how cadavers have been used in western science through history.
Another great adventure into something with Mary Roach. Mary's real thoughts and humor mixed in with what could be quite dry science makes the subject matter oh-so-much more compelling.
Readers are in for a treat to learn about what our meatbags are like after our consciousness is gone from them. - note - she never refers to us as meatbags
In addition to shedding light on a subject most of us will never be able to learn first hand, she also humanizes the work - noting the names and appearances of each person she encounters in her reporting.
I recommend this one for sure.
It started really strong, but around halfway the story collapses. Often I felt like knowing more about a subject, and then she dropped it altogether.
This review is also featured at Behind the Pages: Stiff
When we think of death, we think of the sadness attached to the person who has died. What we don't often think about is how their body could help others in the field of science. Mary Roach approaches the subject of death in a way that allows readers to understand how cadavers have evolved the world around us. Hear stories from doctors, forensic scientists and more about the life of bodies after death. Each chapter dives into different ways cadavers have been used after death. Some stories may horrify you, while others may fascinate you.
I highly suggest having a strong stomach before starting this book. There is no holding back on the details as you read about surgeons slicing into cadavers, honing their craft on dead bodies before working on live ones. And this one section is only the begging. Mary Roach does insert humor to lighten the mood and to soothe the reader at some of the grislier parts.
But surgeons aren't the only ones who use cadavers. You'll find that many fields you never thought studied the dead use them to solve crimes and prevent death. Stiff also gives readers an overview of how studying cadavers began, and the more unsavory ways people used them as experiments before laws and regulations came into effect.
I will admit the hardest part for me to read was the use of animals in experiments. This ties into some of the history before cadavers were used, and I had to disassociate and take breaks to make it through the chapter. Dead bodies are one thing, live animals are another. I applaud Mary Roach for being able to put what she did down on paper for the public eye to see.
I was fascinated and horrified by this book. If the writing style had been more scientific, I most likely would not have made it through. But Mary Roach has tact when speaking of the dead, and won me over with her curiosity and character.
I'm not sure why I didn't like this more. I liked the tone of the book, the author is quippy and flippant while still reporting on whatever the subject at hand is. And I thought the idea of the subject matter was interesting. I think the actual content that was focused on just didn't hold my attention. My digital loan from the library for this audiobook lapsed twice because I didn't finish it when I had taken it out, I just wasn't super compelled to listen to it for the most part.
I don't think this was a bad book, just not really for me.
This book is probably one of the most unique books I will ever read. Writers spend most of their careers on writing about the living, both real and fictional - so reading about cadavers (the scientific term for corpses) was an eye-opening experience, in more ways than one.
Cadavers have been awkward to read and write about - understandably, people don't want to think about what happens to people after they're dead, because that inevitably leads to the sometimes distressing thought of one's own mortality.
But this book breaks all such inhibitions and throws them out of the window. If you're squeamish, don't expect this to be a clean and cheerful ride. Mary Roach makes you realise, by the end of the book, about how cadavers are used everywhere - ranging from good (crash testing) and neutral (bullet impact testing), to the controversial (testing if Jesus was really crucified, by crucifying cadavers). The descriptions are, to put it diplomatically, anatomically accurate.
‘Tis not a completely nihilistic ride though. The author's tales of embarrassment and mortification are laugh-out-loud (a phrase which I would never imagine saying for a book about the deceased), and the author makes you think about topics which you would normally never think about - such as dissection, who should be given responsibility over the remains, and human head transplants.
TL;DR - a unique and immensely readable work, describing the heavy topic of the deceased with the depth and breadth it deserves - sometimes morbid, sometimes hilarious, but always entertaining. A must read if you have a strong stomach, and can think about your own mortality without dissolving into a mess.
A very interesting read, and entertaining as well. The last third or so, was not as interesting and lowered the total rating for me. But I would still recommend it to anyone who's curious about the subject!
I loved Stiff! I've been meaning to read it for ages, and Reading Olympics really pushed me to finally get it. As for the audiobook, I loved the narrator. Shelly Frasier's voice was so soothing and fitting for the book. She really brought this nonfiction novel to life.
So, Stiff is a nonfiction novel. The horror. For me, this kind of topic interests me, as morbid as it may sound. I love medical stories, diseases, and, of course, the dead. I intend to donate my body to science someday as well. Roach's writing is very vivid and sounds like she is telling a story, rather than simply relaying information. For people interested in the medical field or just fascinating stories about the dead, this is an excellent book for you.
I can't believe I have never read this book! This book is everything I enjoy. Snarky sarcasm and the study of dead bodies. I've seen this book over the years, but thought it was a fiction work and assumed I'd get to it eventually. When looking for a microhistory book this was recommended and here we are.
A fascinating study of the history of cadavers and the way we deal with them. From donating to science, donating organs to cremation and cannibalism it was enthralling throughout!
DNF–I'd never read any Mary Roach before but I know her pop science deal, and when I saw this audiobook was available I grabbed it, since it was a good length for a trip I was taking. I really enjoyed probably the first 5 hours of the audiobook–interesting anedcotes, and the somewhat disjointed nature of the book made it a good audiobook–kind of like a series of podcasts. But then it got like, pretty gross, like cannibalism and animal experiments and stuff, and it was making me feel real squeamish, and I remembered I had other things I could listen to and nobody was making me finish the book. So I didn't! In fairness to Mary Roach I probably should have guessed this from the title and basic subject matter...but I wasn't squicked by the stuff like old timey corpse snatching for medical schools and use of cadavers as crash test dummies...so...well, whatever.If you are less squeamish you would probably like it. I might check out one of her other books sometime, like maybe [b:Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void 7237456 Packing for Mars The Curious Science of Life in the Void Mary Roach https://d2arxad8u2l0g7.cloudfront.net/books/1290480157s/7237456.jpg 8159756] won't make me want to barf so much, idk