- Hardcover: 224 pages
- Publisher: W. W. Norton & Co.; 1 edition (20 May 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0393050939
- ISBN-13: 978-0393050936
- Product Dimensions: 21.5 x 15.1 x 2.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,183,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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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.
Joe Queenan
Mary Roach proves what many of us have long suspected: that the real fun in life doesn't start until you're dead."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Inside This Book
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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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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
49 of 49 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gee, I want to be a STIFF when I grow up!,
By
This review is from: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (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:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humourous, informative & highly accessible,
This review is from: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (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:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of gory details,
By
This review is from: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (Paperback)
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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