Not So Stiff

By Emma F.

Author Mary Roach is known for addressing unconventional topics in her writing. Roach's narrative nonfiction Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is no exception. Throughout Stiff Roach explores the many not-so-typical uses of our bodies after death.

Just shortly after people started to exist on Earth so have their cadavers. Roach investigates the positive contributions cadavers have made to society from nearly two thousand years ago all the way through the present. Whether it was the ancient Egyptians mummifying their fallen leaders or present day plastic surgeons severing cadaver heads to practice their newest treatments, Roach has researched it all. By trekking across the country to visit places like crash test labs and even forensic yards blanketed with decaying bodies, Roach is able to relay much of her research through first hand accounts.

Unlike her subjects of research, Roach is anything but stiff. By skillfully combining humor with reverence Roach is able to make a morbid subject hilariously entertaining but not contemptuous. Not a page in this book exists where Roach's wisecracking sense of humor won't make you smile. Similarly, not a page exists where you won't learn something new and perceptive. However, the book's lack of traditional plot makes it hard to pick up again once you set it down. The somewhat haphazard organization of Roach's various anecdotal experiences leave the reader absent of the urgent "What happens next?" feeling.

Stiff is not for the faint of stomach. Although Roach takes a comic approach to human cadavers, a few of the chapters can get disgustingly vivid. If you cannot handle frothy brains seeping through various facial canals I suggest you skip these chapters or skip breakfast.

As long as you're in no rush, Stiff is an insightful and humorous read. Stiff leaves its readers with a transformed perspective on death and science. I would recommend this narrative to anyone looking for a laugh as well as learning something new. An award winning writer, Roach is widely available from your local book store to Amazon.