Stiff

The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

By: Mary Roach

Narrated by: Shelly Frasier

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

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.

©2003 Mary Roach (P)2003 Tantor Media, Inc.

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)

DEATH DOESN'T HAVE TO BE BORING

A HEAD IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE
Not a subject for everyone, but I found it entertaining and informative. For one thing, I was amazed to learn about body snatching. I had heard about this in the many B movies, I watched as a kid, but I thought they were making it up. Turns out it happened often. Matter of fact a student at medical school could pay his tuition in corpses, and not even use money.

THESE WERE TRYING TIMES FOR POULTRY
I don't know if it was the author or the narrator, but most of the time the humor just DIED. It is still a quality listen.

GROSS ANATOMY

Sam's right

Sam from Sacramento's review is exactly what I would have said. Whenever I tell someone I am listening to this book, I feel like I almost have to qualify myself. Amazingly, the hardest part for me was the live animal testing for bullets. I actually had to skip past that, while I found the science of Pan Am Flight 800 amazingly riveting.

I listened to this book driving back and forth to work and I will say there was an occasional uncontrollable "ick" or "ohmigod" uttered, accompanied by a queasy face, but the book never failed to be satisfying, interesting, and quirkly.

The narrator was absolutely perfect for the book and I think it is the first time I actually searched audible for more books by a narrator. When she's reading the scene in the Knoxville rot lot, I nearly had to pull the car over I was laughing so hard...about the noise "haciendas" make while eating rotting flesh.

Anyway, it will make you uncomfortable and queasy on occasion, but that is far outweighed by the things you'll learn about life and the process of death.

Very fine book; awful reader

Why can't the producers of audiobooks get readers who are at least marginally capable of pronouncing the foreign words? This book contains many French names and phrases that, if one knows a little French, are completely incomprehensible. To make things worse, she often mispronounces English words - like 'brougham,' for instance.

Argh!

loved it.

Would you listen to Stiff again? Why?

Yes. I loved the story. however I think I missed some chapters while I was doing other things, would like to listen again to see what I missed

What did you like best about this story?

The details and humors. Was like having a chat with a close friend who has totally different profession than mine.

What about Shelly Frasier’s performance did you like?

Was easy to listen and very lively.

Great Bit of Science Writing, And Well Narrated

I've heard a lot about Mary Roach over the last several years, but hadn't read (or in this case, listened to) her prior works. Since I have resolved to read or listen to more non-fiction titles over the course of 2017, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers seemed like the perfect place to start, and a prime opportunity to finally check out Roach's work.

Stiff may cover material that could be considered morbid by some (appropriately, I suppose), but Roach injects a fair amount of wit into the proceedings. Donating your corpse to science is certainly a noble deed, but you should probably strike out any thoughts of your being key to cancer's cure. The unlife of a cadaver is certainly not glamorous, despite its necessity for science and study.

It hadn't occurred to me that cadavers would be put through so many paces upon a person's expiration, so Stiff presents an eye-opening view of what happens to all those bodies donated to science. While there are plenty of uses for cadavers in medical research (how do you think doctors get so good at performing face lifts?), the auto industry also has a keen interest in determining the safety of their automobiles and how human bodies will be impacted by collisions and car accidents. Forensic research is a must, and fresh bodies make their way to the University of Tennessee, Knoxville's Body Farm where forensic anthropologists can study decay rates in a variety of settings (buried, exposed, stuffed into car trunks) helpful in crime scenes. And, of course, somebody has to learn, first-hand, how to sew an anus shut so a corpse's fluids don't leak out during a funeral viewing.

Roach relies heavily on field investigation and interviews directly with her sources, in addition to a bevvy of research. The history of obtaining cadavers is a grisly and sordid affair, and Roach covers it all, from body snatching to guillotines and donations, either by law or decree of consent.

There's a lot of information throughout, but it's never dry or boring. Roach is a very engaging and forthright science writer who does not get bogged down in minutiae or lingo, and makes the work entirely accessible to anybody keen on the topic. Shelly's Fraiser's narration further serves the book's accessibility, and she capture's Roach's dry wit quite well. On the production-end, I did note a small hiccup in which the last two minutes of material are repeated after the publisher's final sound-clip (followed by another, different sound clip for advertising another one of Roach's titles).

After reading Stiff, I can certainly understand the popularity Roach's books engender and I'm now planning on listening to several more of her titles over the coming months.