despite the subject matter, a wonderfully funny book ( )

I listened to this audiobook and I loved the narrator. She caught exactly the humour that Mary Roach infused into this subject which seems like the last topic you could make enjoyable.

Mary Roach examines all the ways in which dead bodies can be and have been disposed of. Much of the book is about using cadavers for scientific research or teaching anatomy. I've always known that medical and other students need dead bodies in order to study human anatomy. As a person who didn't even want to dissect a rat in biology I know that would be something I could never do. However, it does seem like a good idea for people who want to treat humans to know how all the organs and bones and muscles work. I'm still not convinced to leave my body for that use although I signed my organ donor card decades ago. But some of the other uses of cadavers were surprising to me, such as using them to test what happens in car crashes. Apparently, crash test dummies just can't replicate the way a real body will handle an air bag release when a vehicle is hit. Roach managed to get into all kinds of labs where cadavers are used and she seemed to really enjoy that. Again, not my cup of tea.

The chapters on alternatives to burial or cremation were the most interesting to me. I long ago decided I wasn't going to be put into a coffin and take up a plot of land. About the only other alternative is to be cremated but there may be a time coming when bodies could be composted or freeze-dried and broken into powder. I like the idea of this greener alternative to cremation but it is not available in Canada yet. I wonder what Greenpeace and the David Suzuki Foundation have to say about green ways of disposing of your body.

This book was first released 20 years ago but Roach has done an afterword for a new edition. Unfortunately, this audiobook didn't include that. I watched a Q & A Zoom session with Roach but if other readers don't have that opportunity, then I recommend getting the updated book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. I never believed that a book about death & cadavers could be funny, but the author managed to sneak humor in there along with lots of interesting information. I would definitely recommend this book - except to anyone with a weak stomach. ( )

A fascinating and funny look at the multiplicity of ways in which cadavers possibly benefit the living. As an Orthodox Christian, I didn't always agree with the ways cadavers were treated. But, this book did give me some food for thought about how and why Orthodox Christians should accept green burial. Stiff, doesn't completely dive into this, but does point out that the American funeral industry is unique. In most of the world burial is still a quite organic, natural part of family and community life (which Roach points out). Yet in America (and the West) we have turned death into a grotesque art form at best, or a macabre cult of greed and profit at the worst.

Still, the way science has utilized cadavers (for better and for worse) is a fascinating study that raises many ethical considerations and contains many shocking revelations. ( )

I know what you are thinking. A book about dead bodies. Why do I want to read that? Because science, that's why. Great book. I learned a lot. I chuckled. I got a little squeamish. I added a few ways I don't want to die to my list. Read it, love it, buy her next book. ( )