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Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
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Editorial reviews
Publisher's summary
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 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.
Critic reviews
- Alex Award Winner, 2004
"Uproariously funny....informative and respectful...irreverent and witty....impossible to put down." (Publishers Weekly)
"Not grisly but inspiring, this work considers the many valuable scientific uses of the body after death." (Library Journal)
"One of the funniest and most unusual books of the year." (Entertainment Weekly)
Featured Article: A Future Corpse's Guide to Death Acceptance
Confronting death does not necessitate a spiral into despondency. Instead we may come a realization that, in acknowledging and accepting this fate, we paradoxically lead fuller and more emotionally present lives. In this list, scholars, physicians, journalists, philosophers, and death professionals share their stories, perspectives, and advice, offering a glimpse into how we can prepare for the end with grace, heart, and humor.
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Using the most common postmortem process as the backbone of the narrative, The Chick and the Dead takes the listener through the process of an autopsy while also describing the history and changing cultures of our relationship with the dead. The book is full of vivid insight into what happens to our bodies in the end. Each chapter considers an aspect of an autopsy alongside an aspect of Carla's own life and work and touches on some of the more controversial aspects of our feelings toward death.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Dull
- By Leah on 08-19-17
By: Carla Valentine
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Grunt
- The Curious Science of Humans at War
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Abby Elvidge
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,287
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,057
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,053
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise - and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
I Usually Love Mary Roach, But--
- By Gillian on 12-07-16
By: Mary Roach
-
Working Stiff
- Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
- By: Judy Melinek MD, T. J. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,908
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,897
Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband and their toddler holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation-performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, and counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking listeners behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Great story - but not for the faint of heart!
- By R. Freeman on 08-20-14
By: Judy Melinek MD, and others
-
Phineas Gage
- A Gruesome but True Story About Brain Science
- By: John Fleischman
- Narrated by: Kevin Orton
- Length: 1 hr and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 118
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 95
In 1848 Vermont, railroad foreman Phineas Gage sat above a hole, preparing to blast through some granite. A 13-pound iron rod fell from his hands into the hole, triggering the explosion and sending the rod straight through Phineas' head. Thirty minutes after this terrible accident, Phineas sat on the steps of a hotel, patiently waiting for the town doctor to arrive. He chatted with his amazed coworkers as if nothing had happened. But something terrible had happened.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Compact &view of the roots of brain science
- By D. Littman on 03-03-09
By: John Fleischman
-
Gulp
- Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,896
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,440
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,445
Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Funtastic Voyage
- By Mel on 04-05-13
By: Mary Roach
-
Heart
- A History
- By: Sandeep Jauhar
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 566
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 500
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 502
For centuries, the human heart seemed beyond our understanding: an inscrutable shuddering mass that was somehow the driver of emotion and the seat of the soul. As cardiologist and best-selling author Sandeep Jauhar tells in The Heart, it was only recently that we demolished age-old taboos and devised the transformative procedures that changed the way we live. Deftly alternating between historical episodes and his own work, Jauhar tells the colorful and little known story of the doctors who risked their careers and the patients who risked their lives to know and heal our most vital organ.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Insight
- By Ironcharles on 10-27-18
By: Sandeep Jauhar
-
Healing Hearts
- A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon
- By: Kathy Magliato
- Narrated by: Renée Raudman
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Dr. Kathy Magliato is one of fewer than a dozen female heart surgeons practicing in the world today. She is also a member of an even more exclusive group - those surgeons who perform heart transplants. Healing Hearts is the story of the making of a surgeon who also calls herself a wife and mother.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Healing Hearts
- By Jean on 01-14-12
By: Kathy Magliato
-
Shocked
- Adventures in Bringing Back the Recently Dead
- By: David Casarett M.D.
- Narrated by: Walter Dixon
- Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 387
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 354
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 355
Not too long ago, there was no coming back from death. But now, with revolutionary medical advances, death has become just another serious complication. As a young medical student, Dr. David Casarett was inspired by the story of a two-year-old girl named Michelle Funk. Michelle fell into a creek and was underwater for over an hour. When she was found she wasn't breathing, and her pupils were fixed and dilated. That drowning should have been fatal. But after three hours of persistent work, a team of doctors and nurses was able to bring her back.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Dead vs. Sincerely Dead
- By Gillian on 06-24-16
-
The Mystery of the Exploding Teeth
- And Other Curiosities from the History of Medicine
- By: Thomas Morris
- Narrated by: Thomas Morris, Ruper Farley
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 618
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 534
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 531
A puzzling series of dental explosions beginning in the 19th century is just one of many strange tales that have long lain undiscovered in the pages of old medical journals. Award-winning medical historian Thomas Morris delivers one of the most remarkable, cringe-inducing collections of stories ever assembled.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Boring Toilet Humor
- By Nemo on 01-30-20
By: Thomas Morris
-
The Undead
- Organ Harvesting, The Ice-Water Test, Beating Heart Cadavers - How Medicine Is Blurring the Line Between Life and Death
- By: Dick Teresi
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
Important and provocative, The Undead examines why even with the tools of advanced technology, what we think of as life and death, consciousness and nonconsciousness, is not exactly clear - and how this problem has been further complicated by the business of organ harvesting.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Eye opening
- By Amy Giglio on 07-01-18
By: Dick Teresi
-
The Demon in the Freezer
- A True Story
- By: Richard Preston
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,351
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,003
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 997
The first major bioterror event in the United States - the anthrax attacks in October 2001 - was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a number-one New York Times best seller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Pretty interesting listening in a horrific way
- By S A on 09-19-03
By: Richard Preston
-
The Butchering Art
- Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine
- By: Lindsey Fitzharris
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 7 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,332
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,999
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,991
In The Butchering Art, the historian Lindsey Fitzharris reveals the shocking world of 19th-century surgery on the eve of profound transformation. She conjures up early operating theaters - no place for the squeamish - and surgeons, working before anesthesia, who were lauded for their speed and brute strength. They were baffled by the persistent infections that kept mortality rates stubbornly high. A young, melancholy Quaker surgeon named Joseph Lister would solve the deadly riddle and change the course of history.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Not one boring moment!
- By WRWF on 12-22-17
-
Severed
- A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found
- By: Frances Larson
- Narrated by: Reay Kaplan
- Length: 8 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
From the Western collectors whose demand for shrunken heads spurred massacres to Second World War soldiers who sent the remains of the Japanese home to their girlfriends, from Madame Tussaud modeling the guillotined head of Robespierre to Damien Hirst photographing decapitated heads in city morgues, from grave-robbing phrenologists to skull-obsessed scientists, anthopologist Frances Larson here explores our macabre fixation with severed heads.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Good narrator
- By Caitlin kestell on 04-27-24
By: Frances Larson
-
Final Exam
- A Surgeon's Reflections on Mortality
- By: Pauline W. Chen
- Narrated by: Pauline W. Chen
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 59
When Pauline Chen began medical school 20 years ago, she dreamed of saving lives. What she did not count on was how much death would be a part of her work. Almost immediately, Chen found herself wrestling with medicine's most profound paradox: that a profession premised on caring for the ill also systematically depersonalizes dying. Final Exam follows Chen over the course of her education, training, and practice as she grapples at strikingly close range with the problem of mortality.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Not just about end of life
- By Paul Mullen on 03-25-07
By: Pauline W. Chen
-
King of Hearts
- The True Story of the Maverick Who Pioneered Open Heart Surgery
- By: G. Wayne Miller
- Narrated by: Patrick Cullen
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 170
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 167
G. Wayne Miller has dramatically and meticulously reconstructed an amazing true story: how a group of renegade Minnesota surgeons, led by Dr. Walt Lillehei, made medical history by becoming the first doctors to operate deep inside the human heart.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved every minute
- By Brian on 02-05-08
By: G. Wayne Miller
-
Tell Me Where It Hurts
- Humor, Healing and Hope in my Life as an Animal Surgeon
- By: Dr. Nick Trout
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 468
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 318
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 321
From the frontlines of modern medicine, Tell Me Where it Hurts is a fascinating insider portrait of a veterinarian, his furry patients, and the blend of old-fashioned instincts and cutting-edge technology that defines pet care in the 21st century. Dr. Trout takes the listener on a vicarious journey through 24 intimate, heartrending hours in his life.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
So close, yet not quite.
- By ButterLegume on 04-18-13
By: Dr. Nick Trout
-
Flu
- The Story of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus that Caused It
- By: Gina Kolata
- Narrated by: Gina Kolata
- Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 488
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 230
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 227
Feeling feverish, tired, or achy? Listening to Gina Kolata's engrossing account of the 1918 Influenza epidemic is sure to give you the chills. A gripping work of science writing, Flu addresses the prospects for a great epidemic recurring, and considers what can be done to prevent it.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
overexcited
- By Marilyn on 07-23-03
By: Gina Kolata
-
Under the Knife
- A History of Surgery in 28 Remarkable Operations
- By: Arnold van de Laar, Andy Brown - translator
- Narrated by: Rich Keeble
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 255
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 220
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 221
From the story of the desperate man from 17th-century Amsterdam who grimly cut a stone out of his own bladder to Bob Marley's deadly toe, Under the Knife offers a wealth of fascinating and unforgettable insights into medicine and history via the operating room. What happens during an operation? How does the human body respond to being attacked by a knife, a bacterium, a cancer cell, or a bullet? And, as medical advances continuously push the boundaries of what medicine can cure, what are the limits of surgery?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Why did a surgeon need a fast horse?
- By India Clamp on 10-18-18
By: Arnold van de Laar, and others
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3 out of 5 stars
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Spook
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 1,370
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,109
In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Read this book, but don't listen to it!
- By Christine on 11-21-09
By: Mary Roach
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Bonk
- The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,077
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,248
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,250
The study of sexual physiology has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.
Mary Roach, "The funniest science writer in the country", devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely Wonderful!
- By Gurmukh on 07-05-08
By: Mary Roach
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Grunt
- The Curious Science of Humans at War
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Abby Elvidge
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,287
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,057
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,053
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise - and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper.
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3 out of 5 stars
-
I Usually Love Mary Roach, But--
- By Gillian on 12-07-16
By: Mary Roach
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My Planet
- Finding Humor in the Oddest Places
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 571
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 525
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Story4 out of 5 stars 520
Follow New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach - but be careful not to trip - as she weaves through personal anecdotes and everyday musings riddled with her uncanny wit and amazingly analytical eye. These essays, which found a well-deserved home within the pages of Reader's Digest as the column "My Planet," detail the inner workings of hypochondriacs, hoarders, and compulsive cheapskates. (Did we mention neurotic interior designers and professional list makers?) For Roach, humor is hidden in the most unlikely places, which means that nothing is off limits.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator drove me crazy
- By Ann on 04-23-14
By: Mary Roach
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Fuzz
- When Nature Breaks the Law
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Mary Roach
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,429
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,207
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,198
What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The footnotes
- By Alex on 09-24-21
By: Mary Roach
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Gulp
- Adventures on the Alimentary Canal
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,896
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,440
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Story4 out of 5 stars 3,445
Best-selling author Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside. Roach takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: The questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars. Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts?
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3 out of 5 stars
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Funtastic Voyage
- By Mel on 04-05-13
By: Mary Roach
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Spook
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- Narrated by: Bernadette Quigley
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 1,370
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 1,112
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,109
In an attempt to find out, Mary Roach brings her tireless curiosity to bear on an array of contemporary and historical soul-searchers: scientists, schemers, engineers, mediums, all trying to prove (or disprove) that life goes on after we die. She begins the journey in rural India with a reincarnation researcher and ends up in a University of Virginia operating room where cardiologists have installed equipment near the ceiling to study out-of-body near-death experiences.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Read this book, but don't listen to it!
- By Christine on 11-21-09
By: Mary Roach
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Bonk
- The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,077
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,248
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,250
The study of sexual physiology has been a paying career or a diverting sideline for scientists as far-ranging as Leonardo da Vinci and James Watson. The research has taken place behind the closed doors of laboratories, brothels, MRI centers, pig farms, sex-toy R&D labs, and Alfred Kinsey's attic.
Mary Roach, "The funniest science writer in the country", devoted the past two years to stepping behind those doors. In Bonk, Roach shows us how and why sexual arousal and orgasm can be so hard to achieve and what science is doing to slowly make the bedroom a more satisfying place.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Absolutely Wonderful!
- By Gurmukh on 07-05-08
By: Mary Roach
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Grunt
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,287
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2,057
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,053
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise - and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper.
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3 out of 5 stars
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I Usually Love Mary Roach, But--
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My Planet
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 571
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 525
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Story4 out of 5 stars 520
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3 out of 5 stars
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Narrator drove me crazy
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Fuzz
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,429
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,207
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,198
What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
-
5 out of 5 stars
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The footnotes
- By Alex on 09-24-21
By: Mary Roach
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Packing for Mars
- The Curious Science of Life in the Void
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,528
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,464
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,457
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour?
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4 out of 5 stars
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Everything You Always Wanted to Know - and More
- By Roy on 09-22-10
By: Mary Roach
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Mortuary Confidential
- Undertakers Spill the Dirt
- By: Todd Harra, Kenneth McKenzie
- Narrated by: Susan Larkin, Allan Robertson
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
From shoot-outs at funerals to dead men screaming and runaway corpses, undertakers have plenty of unusual stories to tell - and a special way of telling them. In this macabre and moving compilation, funeral directors across the country share their most embarrassing, jaw-dropping, irreverent, and deeply poignant stories about life at death's door.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A wonderful read!
- By Grace Adele Spruiell on 12-25-22
By: Todd Harra, and others
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Working Stiff
- Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner
- By: Judy Melinek MD, T. J. Mitchell
- Narrated by: Tanya Eby
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,243
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,908
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,897
Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband and their toddler holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation-performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, and counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy's two years of training, taking listeners behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Great story - but not for the faint of heart!
- By R. Freeman on 08-20-14
By: Judy Melinek MD, and others
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
- And Other Lessons from the Crematory
- By: Caitlin Doughty
- Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,692
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,839
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,803
Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty - a 20-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre - took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. With an original voice that combines fearless curiosity and mordant wit, Caitlin tells an unusual coming-of-age story full of bizarre encounters, gallows humor, and vivid characters (both living and very dead).
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5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it So Much I Bought it After Reading it Free
- By J. Mattox on 05-17-17
By: Caitlin Doughty
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All That Remains
- A Renowned Forensic Scientist on Death, Mortality, and Solving Crimes
- By: Sue Black
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 500
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 426
Dame Sue Black is an internationally renowned forensic anthropologist and human anatomist. She has lived her life eye to eye with the Grim Reaper, and she writes vividly about it in this book, which is part primer on the basics of identifying human remains, part frank memoir of a woman whose first paying job as a schoolgirl was to apprentice in a butcher shop, and part no-nonsense but deeply humane introduction to the reality of death in our lives. It is a treat for CSI junkies, murder mystery and thriller fans, and anyone seeking a clear-eyed guide to a subject that touches us all.
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2 out of 5 stars
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I wanted a science book about forensics. I got a mostly-memoir instead.
- By A Customer on 11-29-19
By: Sue Black
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Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?
- Big Questions from Tiny Mortals
- By: Caitlin Doughty
- Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
- Length: 4 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,387
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,906
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,888
In Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?, Doughty blends her mortician’s knowledge of the body and the intriguing history behind common misconceptions about corpses to offer factual, hilarious, and candid answers to 35 distinctive questions posed by her youngest fans. In her inimitable voice, Doughty details lore and science of what happens to, and inside, our bodies after we die. Why do corpses groan? What causes bodies to turn colors during decomposition? And why do hair and nails appear longer after death?
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5 out of 5 stars
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There is just something with Caitlin Doughty...
- By Elijah on 09-21-19
By: Caitlin Doughty
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From Here to Eternity
- Traveling the World to Find the Good Death
- By: Caitlin Doughty
- Narrated by: Caitlin Doughty
- Length: 5 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,778
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,380
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,368
Fascinated by our pervasive terror of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for their dead. In rural Indonesia, she observes a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body. Grandpa's mummy has lived in the family home for two years, where the family has maintained a warm and respectful relationship. She meets Bolivian natitas (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls) and introduces us to a Japanese kotsuage.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Caitlin has done it again
- By Shaun on 10-03-17
By: Caitlin Doughty
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Over Our Dead Bodies
- Undertakers Lift the Lid
- By: Todd Harra, Kenneth McKenzie
- Narrated by: Reay Kaplan, Gregory St. John, Brian Troxell
- Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 12
From a dysfunctional family who turn their mother's wake into a full-blown riot, to funeral crashers looking for free meals, to a horse-drawn hearse taking the dearly departed for the ride of their afterlife, these accounts from actual undertakers will have you laughing, thinking, and gasping in disbelief. A literal graveyard of wild coincidences, slapstick humor, and touching moments, Over Our Dead Bodies explores the lighter side of the dead, the living, and the lone undertaker who has to make it all go as planned - even if it doesn't.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great stories!
- By M.E. on 03-07-24
By: Todd Harra, and others
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The Chick and the Dead
- Life and Death Behind Mortuary Doors
- By: Carla Valentine
- Narrated by: Beverley A. Crick
- Length: 8 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 50
Using the most common postmortem process as the backbone of the narrative, The Chick and the Dead takes the listener through the process of an autopsy while also describing the history and changing cultures of our relationship with the dead. The book is full of vivid insight into what happens to our bodies in the end. Each chapter considers an aspect of an autopsy alongside an aspect of Carla's own life and work and touches on some of the more controversial aspects of our feelings toward death.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Dull
- By Leah on 08-19-17
By: Carla Valentine
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Unnatural Causes
- By: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Narrated by: Dr Richard Shepherd
- Length: 11 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 480
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 426
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 421
As the country's top forensic pathologist, Dr Richard Shepherd has spent a lifetime uncovering the secrets of the dead. When death is sudden or unexplained, it falls to Shepherd to establish the cause. Each post-mortem is a detective story in its own right - and Shepherd has performed over 23,000 of them. Through his skill, dedication and insight, Dr Shepherd solves the puzzle to answer our most pressing question: how did this person die?
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2 out of 5 stars
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Boring!
- By Zoesmydog on 06-21-19
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Forensics
- What Bugs, Burns, Prints, DNA, and More Tell Us About Crime
- By: Val McDermid
- Narrated by: Sarah Barron
- Length: 11 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,776
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,504
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,486
The dead talk - to the right listener. They can tell us all about themselves: where they came from, how they lived, how they died, and, of course, who killed them. Forensic scientists can unlock the mysteries of the past and help serve justice using the messages left by a corpse, a crime scene, or the faintest of human traces.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Crime Seen
- By Mark on 09-02-16
By: Val McDermid
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The Education of a Coroner
- Lessons in Investigating Death
- By: John Bateson
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 182
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 153
Ken Holmes worked in the Marin County Coroner's Office for 36 years, starting as a death investigator and ending as the three-term, elected coroner. As he grew into the job - which is different from what is depicted on television - Holmes learned a variety of skills, from finding hidden clues at death scenes, interviewing witnesses effectively, managing bystanders and reporters, preparing testimony for court, to notifying families of a death with sensitivity and compassion.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent read. What an Education.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-10-17
By: John Bateson
What listeners say about Stiff
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lidwine
- 12-19-11
Extremely informative and a delight to listen too!
What did you love best about Stiff?
The story line as well as the narrator researched the subject matter, and this was a delightful story to listen too. The narrator has a nack for putting the emphasis on areas that were meant to be lighthearted. Overall I would give this an A+ and would love to read as well as listen to other novels by this author. Loved it!!!
This is a subject matter that many individuals don't want to talk about or deal with, however, the way the subject matter was introduced makes one want to learn more about what happens to the human body once one is deceased.
Who was your favorite character and why?
N/A
Which character – as performed by Shelly Frasier – was your favorite?
N/A
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
The personalization of how the novel was written.
Any additional comments?
Great author, I look forward to reading as well as listening to other novel that she has written.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 08-18-17
read the book, don't listen
What did you like best about Stiff? What did you like least?
Stiff is an amazing book, filled with wit and humor along with all the fascinating things Roach has to say about cadavers. However, none of the humor comes through with the narrator and honestly, it comes across pretty dull because of it. Highly recommend reading it over listening to the audio version. You'll be laughing and and saying "wow" out loud while flipping through the pages.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tina W
- 05-06-12
Death & Entertainment
Would you listen to Stiff again? Why?
Yes, I found it very interesting and education, as well as entertaining
What did you like best about this story?
Mary Roach's no holds barred approach to the subject.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 01-03-20
Great book!
Mary Roach is always great, this is no exception. Just feels a little all over the place, I wish there was more of a flow, as in Packing for Mars.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- DigDug
- 11-28-19
Wow!! Who-da-Thunk???
I love this book. Was recommended to me by my friend. So glad she did... very interesting look at how "it all works". Narrator was excellent. Author puts a humorous twist on what could be interpreted as a taboo subject. Would highly recommend.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Susan Fuller
- 03-16-19
Amusing, respectful, and informative
Revolting, hilarious, thoughtful light shining on what comes last in all lives. We all ponder what happens to our bodies, awareness brings a certain sense of peace. I was unable to stop listening.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- tania garberg
- 07-29-19
Absolutely fantastic
How you can make a dead body into an interesting topic is amazing. The humor in this book is great as well. Highly recommend it!
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Elliot
- 05-30-11
Funny and interesting.
This book has a lot more humor than I am used to for a non fiction book. I found the content very interesting and the author in her research asks all the questions you would be to chicken to ask.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Larry
- 08-22-15
Very interesting
Some parts you start to wonder the connection, but she always brings it together.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rae
- 04-16-12
Gross and Engrossing Book
What did you love best about Stiff?
Lots of info I didn't know
What did you like best about this story?
The historical information was fascinating
Have you listened to any of Shelly Frasier’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Never heard her before but she was very easy to listen to and funny
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