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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by Mary Roach
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product
details
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Hardcover:
224
pages; Dimensions (in inches): 1.10 x 8.57 x
5.82 |
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Publisher:
W. W. Norton & Company (April 2003) |
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ISBN:
0393050939 |
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book
description
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. For every new
surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment
surgery, cadavers have been there, alongside surgeons, making history in
their quiet, sundered 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 at the University of Tennessee (a.k.a. the "Body
Farm"), to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian
funeral directors' conference on the utopian future of human composting.
In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our
bodies when we are no longer with them. |
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editorial
reviews
People magazine--June 2, 2003
You'll discover that the Colosseum "featured occasional backstage
concessions of blood fresh from slain gladiators, which was thought to
cure epilepsy" and that the flesh of cadavers has "more or
less the same body composition as veal." Roach's conversational
tone and her gallows humor bring her subjects to life. Bottom line:
Morbidly entertaining.
Entertainment Weekly--April 18, 2003
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is
Roach's gross, educational, and unexpectedly
sidesplitting history of their extra-mile sacrifices
for humanity. Because she always draws a distinction
between you and your smelly carcass (not the same
person, she argues), Roach gets away with the
cheerfully morbid smart-ass commentary that abounds
throughout. She's written one of the funniest and most
unusual books of the year.
Publishers Weekly--February 24, 2003
"Uproariously funny" doesn't seem a likely description for a book on cadavers. However, Roach, a
Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, has
done the nearly impossible and written a book as informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty.
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