A review by christynhoover
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Not for the squeamish!! At one point I thought I might not finish it, it was so ghoulish at many places. But the author's dry humor helped me see it through to the final chapter where she confesses what she has chosen for her OWN cadaver.

Overall it was often thoughtful, often humorously irreverent, always a treasure trove for the curious. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Animal death, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Murder, and Cannibalism

It really gets into the nitty-gritty about the myriad possible uses and dispositions of dead humans. As the author did research for the book, she came up with lines of inquiry that never would have occurred to me! Being a hale 69 year old woman reading this book, I found it distressing at times and ghoulish. But I'd rather age with my eyes open and to have considered the many points she makes than to have remained ignorant about this subject.