Stiff

Title: Stiff
Author: Mary Roach
Year Published: 2003
Finished: December 19, 2008
Pages: 304
Challenges: Fall Into Reading 2008

I have been waiting patiently to read this book for a very long time, and it’s been sitting on my shelf waiting for the right moment.

Mary Roach’s first book is all about cadavers and all aspects of the dead. Including topics about war, cremation, medical research, cosmetic surgery, body snatching, crash test dummies, crucifixion, decapitation, cannibalism, and much more.

Everything I’ve heard from reviews, says this book is quite funny, and it had it’s moments but it wasn’t as funny and I thought it was intriguing. For the first time in quite awhile I actually found myself quoting passages to people around me that I found interesting, such as the woman who was arrested for leaving the scene of a hit and run with the injured man still stuck in her windshield.

Some the examples I found humorous, some of the tests done in early studies were quite interesting, and overall I found the book to be very informative.

I’m looking forward to reading her other two books.