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bxtskr's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Blood, Excrement, Police brutality, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
hanarama's review against another edition
4.0
• Science
• Non-fiction
• Single topic
• Conversational
In Stiff, Mary Roach investigates our relationship to human corpses. Through history and into modern day, Roach explores how we feel about dead bodies as well as how they have helped us advance science and medicine.
I love non-fiction books focusing on single topics or phenomena, and this is no exception. Though lacking in a narrative, Roach allows the subject matter to work as a throughline through the chapters, creating a sense of cohesion as the book moves from donated bodies in anatomy labs, to crash tests, and to some truly horrifying mad science.
Roach's conversational writing makes Stiff easily digestible. It's a fast and easy read, and often feels as though an acquaintance is sharing this information with you over coffee.
Perhaps my only gripe is that Roach lets personal opinion color some of the chapters on alternative burial. Outside of the decapitation/head transplant chapter, this is the only time it feels like Roach is uncomfortable. Today more people are thinking about their death wishes and considering alternative burial, and I feel like Roach was a bit dismissive towards these methods. If we're going to be death positive, we should be more open to different methods of internment.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, Medical content, Cannibalism, Medical trauma, and Car accident
narpetcards's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Cannibalism, and Murder
antmahn's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, and Medical content
Moderate: Cannibalism
Personally, the only part I really struggled through was the topic of transplantation experiments on animals. Other than that, the book’s descriptions really let you know what kind of topics you’re getting into with this book.fallknitt's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Animal death, Death, and Medical content
kiikaridino's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Medical content
toobendy's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Medical content, and Medical trauma
emtur007's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Death, Medical content, and Cannibalism
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Blood
Minor: Car accident
anna_m_k's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Medical content, and Cannibalism
five's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Medical content
Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Blood, Excrement, Grief, and Cannibalism