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klbreyfogle's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Terminal illness, Excrement, and Abortion
teafrog's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Animal death
kkatelynelizabeth1's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Cannibalism
misssleepy's review against another edition
3.5
This book has been on my tbr for quite some time. It was very entertaining, yet still very dark and often time grotesque. I do think that it allowed me to reframe some of my assumptions about life, death, and what it means to inhibit a body. I was very intrigued but the latter chapters, especially the section on human composting.
Mary approaches the book with humor and a lightness in style that makes digesting ther information more palatable. It’s very unique and as someone who enjoys dark humor, I appreciated the way she could soften some of the darkness of the subjects being discussed.
I think my biggest critique is that there were some parts that felt a bit racist, specifically towards Chinese people. She did a lot to research/debunk myths surrounding Chinese practices such as eating dogs and cannibalism. While she did manage to address stereotypes, it just felt off-putting to even focus on some of them.
I was also disappointed that the book didn’t touch on some of the ways white people have used racism to justify the desecration of black and brown bodies.
Overall, I learned a lot and would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic. I will also just note that this book was written in the early 2000s. I think if it were written today, that some of my fore mentioned issues might be more likely to be addressed.
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, and Death
e_claire's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Excrement, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Murder
wandering_canuck's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Car accident, Abortion, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
3.5
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Fatphobia, Gore, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail
halfcrispyduck's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Death, Gore, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
bitter_critter's review against another edition
3.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Blood, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child death
eggboybee's review against another edition
5.0
Stiff was shockingly funny and beautifully written. Mary Roach was incredibly detailed and sensitive to her difficult subject matter, while staying engaging and down-to-earth. I imagine that I'll be returning to this book often.
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail