" "Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is.�

Fascinating, funny, gruesome. This is about all the things that can happen to the human cadaver, from body snatching, and crash test dummies, to cosmetic surgery practice and disposal. Mary Roach did a ton of research on what happens to the body after someone has died. It sounds depressing, but she makes it very light and surprisingly funny. I laughed out loud a few times throughout. She also explains exactly what happens to a body in a plane crash and a car crash, the history of acquiring cadavers in the olden days, and different ways to dispose of a body besides cremation or burial.

This book was so enthralling and well-researched, I couldn’t put it down. I was never bored because she doesn't use scientific jargon. It's just entertaining and funny and informative and she does it so tastefully.

My favourite chapter is called Beyond the Black Box. It explains how scientists can recreate how a plane crash played out based on the remains of those who perished and/or the injuries of the survivors even if they do not have access to the Black Box. Other chapters cover the experiences of medical students in Gross Anatomy labs, live burial, medical cannibalism throughout history, and so much more. The author closes her book with a chapter in which she discusses how her research has shaped her personal preferences for the treatment of her body after death. Ms. Roach's investigative journalism is informative, well-researched, objective, and entertaining (her footnotes are the best).

Are you an organ donor or considering donating your body to science? Or even just going with a traditional burial? This book will give you the low down on what actually happens in each of those situations. Trust me, it's not what you think.

Highly Recommend"

"Mary Roach writes about what happens when you donate your body to science. Hilarity ensues. Well, maybe not hilarity but it is a good dose of edutainment.

Way back around the time the earth's crust cooled and life spread across the planet, late 1994 or early 1995, I should think, I visited a chiropractic college with the rest of my Advanced Biology class. This trip was memorable to me for three reasons:
1) It was the first time I experienced an excruciating caffeine withdrawal headache
2) It was the first time I saw a human cadaver
3) I smoked five of my classmates playing pool in the student lounge at lunch.

Obviously, #2 is the one pertinent to this review, although I am still quite proud of #3. The cadaver I saw had its face covered and its skin looked shriveled, somewhat like beef jerky. My 17 year old mind briefly wondered where the man had come from before my hormone-fueled brain returned my attention to the nubile young ladies in the room. Anyway, let's get down to review business.

Mary Roach manages to take a subject that give many people the heebie-jeebies, donating one's remains to science, and makes it humorous at times. She covers such topics as learning surgical techniques via practicing on cadavers, human decomposition, ingesting human remains for medicinal purpose, using corpses in car crash tests, using cadavers for ballistics tests, crucifixion experiments, and even head transplants.

While it's not ideal meal-time reading, I didn't find it as stomach churning as some reviewers did. The talk of decomposition and quack remedies of the Middle ages were fascinating and I was really interested in the head and brain transplant experiments. Frankenstein's monster doesn't seem as unrealistic as it did yesterday.

Apparently, necrophilia is only illegal in 16 states. Imagine if that was one of your criteria when choosing a place to live. "Honey, I'd love to live in Florida but then we couldn't have our sexy parties..."

Actually, the funeral bits were also pretty enlightening. Did you know they have to suture the anus shut to keep nastiness from leaking out during a funeral? Or that dead people can fart from gas trapped in their intestines? Or that they insert special caps underneath the eyelids to keep them from suddenly opening? Fascinating stuff.

Stiff is a very interesting read for those interested in what happens when you donate your body to science, softened somewhat by Roach's sense of humor. Three easy stars.
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