- Hardcover: 439 pages
- Publisher: Thorndike Press; Lrg edition (Oct 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0786258535
- ISBN-13: 978-0786258536
- Product Dimensions: 22.1 x 14.7 x 2.5 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,465,670 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Caleb Carr, author of the Alienist
As fascinating as it is funny, as sensitive as it is probing. Above all an important account of how we treat the dead -- literally.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
As a book about dead bodies and how they are used by the living, the subject matter is macabre. But the author is clearly having such a good time with the material that you cannot help but read on in a state of appalled fascination. While plenty of the lurid stuff about dissection, body snatching, airplane and car crash victims is not actually new, it is convenient to have it all rescued from the twilight status of urban myth and dressed respectably between smart hardcovers. This is not, emphatically, a book about death and dying. It is about what is left behind once the business of living is done with. The author is able to write about her subject with a certain clinical detachment and black humour, but this is still not a book for the recently bereaved or for anyone looking forward to a long stay in hospital. And it is definitely not for any one planning to leave a body to medical science.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
The human head is of the same approximate size and weight as a roaster chicken. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
51 of 51 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Perhaps author Mary Roach thought the title of her book, STIFF, too ghoulish because she immediately begins in a festive mood:
"... being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back. The brain has shut down. The flesh begins to soften. Nothing much new happens, and nothing is expected of you." Carnival, Viking, and Holland America, take note.
As a corpse, you can indeed, as on last summer's voyage to the Bahamas, veg out. Or, as the narrative reveals, be an integral part of other activities. Why, I didn't realize that being dead could be so lively.
First and foremost, your cadaver could become the prize of body snatchers, and subsequently be sold to a medical school for the instruction and amusement of students. Or perhaps you aspire to become a crash test dummy, fodder for the military's munitions tests, or the subject of experiments in composting, freeze-drying or plastination. If you're unlucky enough to die in an airplane disaster of unknown cause, investigators may scrutinize your body, or its widely scattered pieces, for clues as to where in the aircraft the fuselage cracked open or the bomb exploded. Your dissected brain or heart could fuel arguments over the seat of the soul, while other body parts serve as the raw material for disease remedies. Or maybe just be eaten by cannibals. And, if you're the outdoorsy type, you can recline in a grove on a grassy hillside behind the University of Tennessee Medical Center where the various stages of human decomposition are studied and recorded.
STIFF is one of the most fascinating books I've read recently, even after taking into account the "yuk" factor. (In ancient Rome, the blood of freshly slaughtered gladiators was thought to cure epilepsy, while modern day Web sites have recipes for Placenta Lasagna and Placenta Pizza for those who would consume the delicacy to stave off postpartum depression.) This is largely due to the author's chatty style and marvelous sense of humor, which is dry as a mummy. For example, when declaring the existence of a Central Park statue of a certain Dr. Sims, otherwise notable for describing a suitable patient position for gynecological exam, Roach writes in a footnote:
"If you don't believe me, you can look it up yourself, on page 56 of THE ROMANCE OF PROCTOLOGY. (Sims was apparently something of a dilettante when it came to bodily orifices.) P.S.: I could not, from cursory skimming, ascertain what the romance was."
I highly recommend STIFF for the not too squeamish adult, or as a scary Halloween gift for one who is. Or as a bedtime reader for precocious youngsters - they'll think it gross, but way cool, as children are wont to do.
In case you're wondering, there's no photo section.
Note: This is my unedited review.
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I know quite a few people have been put off this book due to its subject matter, but I couldn't recommend it highly enough.
Mary Roach approaches the subject with great humour, whilst all the time remaining respectful of such a highly sensitive subject. One of the main I enjoyed about the book was how accessible she had made something which borders between science & medicine, meaning that anyone could pick up the book and clearly understand. Aditionally, the research has been carefully carried out and there are so many interesting facts in here I don't think I could bear to be parted from this book.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A well written and amusing book about what happens to the bits you leave behind. The author covers just about every method of 'disposal' from being used as a car crash dummy through to being composted. Some of the details may well put you off your food as well as leaving you unsure as to what you want done with your remains.
An interesting and informative book that I would highly recommend.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A lot of regurgitated text
The author wrote approx half this book based on her own investigations and explorations. The other half is quoting from previous books in history. Based on that 4 stars. Read more
Published 12 days ago by Foodie.Herts
Uplifting and informative.
When I read the Sunday Times blurb on the front cover, the word 'cheerful' seemed incongruous with the content of the book. Read more
Published 2 months ago by philaper
For a morbid fascination
One woman's search to find out all the things that could possible happen to your mortal remains after you've vacated them. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Curiosity Killed The Bookworm
What a funny and unusual woman, just like me!
I love this author-- she's informative yet funny and obviously a bit of a weirdo judging by the topics she writes about-- all of which means I'm hooked. Read more
Published 5 months ago by lochnessie233
Dead Funny
This is a book about the bodies of humans that are dead. It's not about death or dying, grief or loss; it's about dead bodies. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Andy
Corpus Taboo
This is a fascinating, informative book, that deals with a subject that not many people discuss, and which verges on the taboo. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mr. L. J. Atterbury
Bet you can't look away
Death is a fascinating topic but one we rarely dare to discuss. And so in this book, Mary Roach not only talks about death, she dissects it, stuffs it, poses it and puts in on the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Simon Hembra
Dead interesting!
I can honestly say that I bought this book with some trepidation - it was either going to be fascinating or dreadful! Read more
Published 11 months ago by Gillian
interestingly good read
This book is written with a British type of humour which will appeal to the black side of anyone, but not in a disrespectful way. Read more
Published 13 months ago by ferrymoor1
Worth reading
OK, as someone who takes an interest in the 'death industry' in general I didn't find much in here that was new to me but it was still a great read. Read more
Published 13 months ago by hyperconformist
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