Stiff, Mary Roach
Stiff, Mary Roach
119 Rating(s)
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Stiff
The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Author: Mary Roach

Narrator: Shelly Frasier

Unabridged: 8 hr

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/01/2003


Synopsis

An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem.

For 2,000 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.


About Mary Roach

Journalist and former Salon.com columnist Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestseller Stiff, Spook, Bonk, and Packing for Mars. She has written for a number of publications, including Outside, Discover, New Scientist, National Geographic, and the New York Times Magazine. She has earned a number of awards for her work, including the Harvard Secular Society's Rushdie Award, which is their award for outstanding lifetime achievement in cultural humanism. A popular TED speaker, Mary lives in Oakland, California.


Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Alicia on 2008-03-03 16:36:56

Very dry...ended up not listening to the entire book.

Goodreads review by Miranda on December 10, 2020

Fascinating, touching and surprisingly wholesome considering it's about dead bodies Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.Mary Roach brings cadavers into a whole new, sometimes painfully bright, light. We follow h......more

Goodreads review by Will on November 01, 2021

Mary Roach - Image from Stanford Medicine - photo by Timothy Archibald Laugh out loud funny is the way to go if you want to learn more than you realized might be worth knowing about dead bodies. It made me greatly disposed to finding out what else Roach has written, before I become a subject for st......more

Goodreads review by Rosh (Off GR duty for a fortnight!) on August 04, 2024

In a Nutshell: An excellent (albeit a little outdated) exposition of human cadavers and the various ways in which they have contributed to our lives. Went much beyond my expectations! The blurb emphasises on funny, but it is more sardonic than hilarious. A bit too gross in some chapters, but overal......more

Goodreads review by Matthew on February 07, 2017

First read of 2017 complete! It was a good one - 4.5 stars. Who knew that a book about what happens to our bodies after we die could be so interesting. This book covers everything to the horrific to the incredibly fascinating. This book may not be for the squeamish, but I think Roach did a great job......more

Goodreads review by Kemper on March 10, 2011

Mary Roach details a lot of uses for human cadavers in this book, but she missed a major one. As Weekend At Bernies taught us, you can always use the corpse of your boss to scam your way into a free weekend at a beach house. That scientific research is all well and good, but there’s nothing in here......more