Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab

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Body of Work: Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 768 ratings · 153 reviews

A hauntingly moving memoir of the relationship between a cadaver named Eve and the first-year medical student who cuts her open

Christine Montross was a nervous first-year medical student, standing outside the anatomy lab on her first day of class, preparing herself for what was to come. Entering a room with stainless-steel tables topped by corpses in body bags is shockin...more A hauntingly moving memoir of the relationship between a cadaver named Eve and the first-year medical student who cuts her open

Christine Montross was a nervous first-year medical student, standing outside the anatomy lab on her first day of class, preparing herself for what was to come. Entering a room with stainless-steel tables topped by corpses in body bags is shocking no matter how long you've prepared yourself, but a strange thing happened when Montross met her cadaver. Instead of being disgusted by her, she was utterly intrigued-intrigued by the person the woman once was, humbled by the sacrifice she had made in donating her body to science, fascinated by the strange, unsettling beauty of the human form. They called her Eve. This is the story of Montross and Eve-the student and the subject-and the surprising relationship that grew between them.

Body of Work is a mesmerizing, rarely seen glimpse into the day-to-day life of a medical student-yet one that follows naturally in the footsteps of recent highly successful literary renderings of the mysteries of medicine such as Atul Gawande's Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science. Christine Montross was a poet long before she became a doctor and brings an uncommon perspective to the emotional difficulty of the first year of medical school-the dispiriting task of remaining clinical and detached while in the anatomy lab and the struggle with the line you've crossed by violating another's body once you leave it.

Montross was so affected by her experience with Eve that she undertook to learn more about the history of cadavers and the study of anatomy. She visited an autopsy lab in Ireland and the University of Padua in Italy where Vesalius, a forefather of anatomy, once studied; she learned about body snatchers and grave-robbers and anatomists who practiced their work on live criminals. Her disturbing, often entertaining anecdotes enrich this exquisitely crafted memoir, endowing an eerie beauty to the world of a doctor-in-training. Body of Work is an unforgettable examination of the mysteries of the human body and a remarkable look at our relationship with both the living and the dead.(less)

Hardcover, 304 pages

Published June 21st 2007 by Penguin Press HC, The (first published 2006)

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Feb 22, 2013 Mikey B. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: anthropology, commentary, health-medicine-science

Fascinating!

A fascinating account of this "acceptable taboo" subject - namely, the medical dissection of the human body by medical students. This one is up close and personal, because the author is one of the students. She takes us through the entire semester - or more precisely the spiritual journey she undergoes. We follow Ms. Montross through her development - both human and medical. She is obviously anguished by what she has to do in the medical lab - and her reactions and exposé give the bo...more

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Jun 17, 2009 Tauna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: medical, 4-and-a-half-stars, non-fiction

I read this book as one of four required readings for my Medical Reading section of HOSA competition this year, and I am so grateful that I did. This is a memoir that takes place during a first year medical student's experiences in her anatomy class dissecting a cadaver. The writing is fluid and easily transitions between the writer's time in the lab and hospital and medical history involving the evolution of dissection. I was amazed and entranced by this book, and found myself palpating my neck...more

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Feb 08, 2008 Jp rated it 2 of 5 stars

I read this book right before I began anatomy lab because my mom sent it to me. My favorite part is probably the beginning, when she's describing going to medical school for the first time, getting a briefcase full of bones, and meeting eccentric Brown Medical Students. Apart from that, I have to say I couldn't identify with much of what else she wrote. I feel like she tried to make a bigger deal out of dissecting human bodies then is normally the case. To quote, and this is after taking out a h...more I read this book right before I began anatomy lab because my mom sent it to me. My favorite part is probably the beginning, when she's describing going to medical school for the first time, getting a briefcase full of bones, and meeting eccentric Brown Medical Students. Apart from that, I have to say I couldn't identify with much of what else she wrote. I feel like she tried to make a bigger deal out of dissecting human bodies then is normally the case. To quote, and this is after taking out a human heart and testing out the functions of the valves (which prevent backflow of blood through the heart much like a parachute):
"To visualize the valves' function, Lex and I decide to take a heart to the sink and pour water through the pulmonary trunk toward the ventricle. THe semilunar valves work like a dream, catching the water as sails catch wind, closing fast and preventing any leakage. It is astonishing, almost impossible to believe."

I don't know, I found it less than almost impossible to believe, but maybe that's why I'm at the University of Toledo Medical School and not Brown. If you're interested in how the body works and you want a sort of coming of age story combined then this book is great. I did enjoy reading it, but I was disappointed by all the exaggeration when I finally started doing dissections of my own.

Granted, there's a lot of incredibly cool things about a human body, and I should use this opportunity to name some. One of the first things I saw that was amazing was the thoracolumbar fascia, which is just a fancy name for a tough sheet of tissue that is used as a sort of (honestly, I don't know all of what it's for) anchoring point for some muscles, and protective covering. The reason I think it's cool is because it basically looks and feels identical to thin fiberglass, which helps support the analogy of man to machine. In a similar vein, all the tendons of the arms and feet act just like strings on a puppet. Anatomy is probably impossible to properly describe through words alone, I recommend getting a body or going on tour at a local cadaver lab.(less)

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Jun 25, 2012 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars

I'm going to start with a disclaimer. This book is certainly not for everyone, as the subtitle is "Meditations on Mortality from the Human Anatomy Lab". If you get squeamish easily, then scroll up or down for another review. If one of your favorite television shows is "Dr. G., Medical Examiner", then keep reading.

This work of nonfiction grabs you from the very beginning. Christine Montross (now Dr.) is entering her first year as a med student. She knows that her first class will be Gross Anatomy...more

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Apr 04, 2011 Särah Nour rated it 5 of 5 stars

Body of Work is one of the best novels I have ever read, and one of my all-time favorite memoirs—as well as my personal bit of evidence that I am not, nor will I ever be, cut out for a career in medicine.

Christine Montross, now a psychiatrist working at Butler Hospital in Rhode Island, wrote this memoir of her trials and tribulations in medical school, and her graphic descriptions of medical practices are written in a beautifully poetic and intimate manner. She was a poetry professor before she...more Body of Work is one of the best novels I have ever read, and one of my all-time favorite memoirs—as well as my personal bit of evidence that I am not, nor will I ever be, cut out for a career in medicine.

Christine Montross, now a psychiatrist working at Butler Hospital in Rhode Island, wrote this memoir of her trials and tribulations in medical school, and her graphic descriptions of medical practices are written in a beautifully poetic and intimate manner. She was a poetry professor before she decided to become a doctor, and it shows. Her literary voice reveals a warm and compassionate nature, and Montross’s personal journey involves coming to terms with death and attaining balance between professional detachment and empathy towards patients.

In particular, Body of Work deals with Montross learning to dissect human corpses for study, namely the corpse that she and her classmates are assigned, who they call Eve. In her mind, Eve becomes her friend and personal guide, and she holds Eve’s hand while a classmate cuts into her with a scalpel, wanting to comfort her through the pain she does not feel. In fact, Montross dedicates this book to Eve, who she credits with helping her become a good doctor. Her devotion to Eve is remarkably, almost achingly moving, and her philosophical musings of life, death and the nature of human relationships are at once viscerally familiar and universally relatable.

Montross also proves to be an exceptional storyteller, as she writes of the history of corpse dissection as medical practice; of eras such as the 18th century, when students could only work with corpses of executed prisoners; of medical students who resorted to robbing graves when governments wouldn’t provide specimens. There’s also the intriguing story of Burke and Hare, serial murderers in 19th century Scotland who sold corpses of their victims to a medical professor. Also fascinating is her research on how the practice currently varies among different cultures; for example, medical students in India regard their specimens as sacred, and they carry out group prayers and ceremonies for them before the dissections.

Indeed, not only is Body of Work emotionally affecting; it is entertaining and educational as well. Not only is it a must-read for anyone considering a career in medicine; it’s the spellbinding work of a master poet and storyteller. However, bear in mind that one must have a strong stomach to withstand the graphic imagery. In any case, it’s a rare and stunning book and a wonderfully worthwhile read; it’s poetry in its purest form. (less)

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Jan 17, 2011 Reid rated it 5 of 5 stars

I admit to being somewhat reluctant to review this book, as if to do so is to finally let go of the experience of reading it, much like writing the epitaph of a loved one might mean another step in letting go of the fact of a life. This is one of those rare reads that got into my marrow and changed (at least for a time, if not forever) my way of thinking about things; not merely mortality and the relationship of my physical being to that slippery concept of what constitutes a "self", but much de...more I admit to being somewhat reluctant to review this book, as if to do so is to finally let go of the experience of reading it, much like writing the epitaph of a loved one might mean another step in letting go of the fact of a life. This is one of those rare reads that got into my marrow and changed (at least for a time, if not forever) my way of thinking about things; not merely mortality and the relationship of my physical being to that slippery concept of what constitutes a "self", but much deeper truths.

For among the many questions raised by Body of Work is this: what part of what I consider to be me is contained in my body? Most of us intellectual, Western, post-Freudian types have thoroughly absorbed the dictum that whatever may be the essence of who we are is contained in the mind, which is in the brain, which is in the head, and there's an end to it. When the brain is dead, our identities are no longer contained in this hunk of muscle, bone, and guts. Either the "soul" dies out completely or continues on in some ephemeral form, but it has entirely flown this body. This is what we, most of us, have concluded from the evidence at hand.

As a former ICU nurse, I have had the privilege to be present at the death of many people, have seen them move from the state of animation to disanimation, from living to most clearly dead. I have felt the body go from warm to cool, and the eyes from live coals to empty sockets. As a clinician, with no true emotional stake in this person's living or dying, why was I always moved by this experience? Why was there a feeling almost of holiness (I can find no better word) at being present there? More recently, I was at the bedside of my cousin when he was declared brain dead and let go. But how many of these have I actually seen die? Many, including my cousin, lost all brain function long before I ever saw them, but their bodies were still ticking along, automatically (or, more accurately, autonomically): breathing, heart beating, hands and faces and feet moving spasmodically. At what point were they no longer alive?

Christine Montross was, to our good fortune, a writer long before she decided to return to school to become a physician. As part of that training, she had to pass through the proving ground of the gross anatomy lab, where she was required to dissect a human body. Eve, the name she and her partners give her (mysteriously, she had no navel, thus her name came to her naturally) has clearly been dead for some time, but is well-preserved. Nonetheless, there is no life in her. She is the wrong color, is cold, and looks distinctly dead. Why, then, is Montross so reluctant to cut and saw and prod and pry into this lifeless slab of a former human? Why would we all recoil at such a violation? Why, for that matter, don't we just put Granny on the curb for pick-up with the garbage and compost? What do we have invested in the sanctity of the human body, and why? Why do we have such elaborate funerary rites with open caskets and flowers and prayers?

It is worth observing that when gesturing to ourselves, we do not point to our heads but to our hearts, and when we feel something deeply, we feel it in our "guts". Buddhist cosmology is quite clear that the beingness of an individual is carried throughout the body and not merely in our heads. Even in that culture, though bodies were (and are) sometimes left in the open to rot or to be consumed by carrion, this is done with great ritual and with honor to them as great teachers. While still alive, the Buddha said that all things could be learned from "this fathom-long body". How is this suddenly untrue when we die?

This is the journey on which this book takes us. From the first cut to the last, the author wonders what the nature of her fear is, her reluctance and revulsion, wonders how she can so desecrate a body yet, for the sake of being a good physician, how she can refuse. Eve is a person to her, as she would be to most of us, I suspect. Montross intersperses these reflections with her investigation into the history of human dissection, and a rather checkered past it is, with governments declaring that certain miscreants will be further defiled by being donated for this purpose and grave-robbing being a not-uncommon method for acquiring subjects. The Catholic church, extremely powerful in Europe in the heyday of anatomical research and vociferously opposed to the practice, plays a huge part in this history.

But Eve is the star, and Montross's relationship to her as she is dismantling her the focus of this superb book. We find ourselves drawn into her world with our own questions and fears and qualms. Gently but inexorably, she shines a light on our bodies and our cherishing of them in a way that leaves us moved and shaken, yet feeling more than ever a sense of the glory of our own being, of the mystery of that being, of how unfathomable the connection between what is flesh and what is, purely and finally, us.

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Dec 28, 2010 Bryan Zorko rated it 3 of 5 stars

Kind of a mixed book for me. The author makes a binary distinction between the reactions of students to the anatomy lab; I definitely did not fall into the same category, and occasionally was annoyed by Montross's insistent language making her reactions seem like the "proper" ones to have. Growing up with a family that openly talked about human dissection at the dinner table (mom's an anatomy teacher) likely already prepared me emotionally for the dissections.
The examination of the history of an...more

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May 31, 2010 Kristin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Another book that made me contemplate my decision not to pursue my dreams of attending medical school. This book was very similar to the last book I read about the Human Anatomy Lab, 'First Cut'. In fact, as I read, my mind decided the two books were 2 different perspectives of the same class. It was many books ago that I read 'First Cut', so I didn't remember the precise details of that book, but in the back of my mind, I recall a 'fat man' who was replaced midway through the semester due to de...more

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Dec 24, 2008 Abbi rated it 5 of 5 stars

Favorite tidbits:

You begin to learn to heal the living by dismantling the dead.

It will hardly be noticed, I discover, as I walk down the [street]...carrying two-thirds of a human skeleton in my briefcase.

The most alarming moments of anatomy are not the bizarre, the unknown. They are the familiar.

17th century travel diaries & postcards reveal that attending a dissection was a society event & marked a European traveler as on the progressive edge of culture.

In early anatomy-education times,...more

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Aug 10, 2007 Grumpus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, audiobook

This is based upon the audio download from [http://www.Audible.com]

Narrated by: Renée Raudman

Documenting the rite of passage for all medical students in the anatomy lab...dissection of a human cadaver. Throw in a little history of dissection, some medical terminology, a great narrator, and some emotional anecdotes; allow to soak in as needed and you have a recipe for a good read (or listen)!

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Oct 09, 2009 Toni rated it 3 of 5 stars

Montross' story of her hands on experience in dissecting a cadaver dubbed Eve to learn anatomy grows monotonous with each dissection tale and learning. What saves the book is interwoven history. Dissections were at one time a public event. I was more fascinated with the historical rendering of the supply of bodies for dissection via grave digging, than I was of reading about the slow dissection of Eve's body. Of course, freshness was an issue in the days lacking “cold storage”, thus the newly de...more

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Dec 21, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book was a very interesting read. Although for most people the idea of reading about a human anatomy lab may seem somewhat disturbing, I found the book very interesting. As a graduate student in forensic science, doing dissections on corpses and viewing autopsies is something that I am most likely going to have to experience at some point in my training, so it was comforting to me to read about Montross' experience in the lab and know that some apprehension and maybe even fear is normal dur...more

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Nov 15, 2009 Randy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

For the non-medical person, Body of Work reveals the emotional relationship of a medical student and his/her cadaver - a passage from lay person to doctor; for myself, a physician, BOW transcends the sensationalism of dissection and brings it to a humane level - powerful thoughts and questions that most medical students face repeatedly in their first year and the mental upheaval that follows with concepts that are immensely staggering and disturbing, yet well blended with scientific inquiry, fas...more

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Aug 26, 2009 Tara rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Montross had at least some formal training in writing before beginning this book, and it shows in her prosaic and memoir-style entries on the dissection of a human cadaver. I appreciated the organization of the book - chapters are primarily organized by body parts/cavities being explored, and mostly open with some historical bric-a-brac about anatomy carnivals in Europe, and the different beliefs and rituals surrounding the dispensation of corpses and how they impact the number of cadavers avail...more

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Apr 02, 2010 Blake Charlton rated it 4 of 5 stars

thoughtful, well researched, written in delicately poetic prose. many times in this book i found myself nodding, remembering my own gross anatomy days. montross perfectly captures the horror and the wonders; however, she tends to overstate the importance of philosophic anatomic study for the acquisition of clinical skill. this accurately represents a first year medical students misconception of anatomies importance. to some extent this perspective is fitting to the narrative, but it is also inap...more

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Jan 16, 2012 Brianna Kilcrease rated it 3 of 5 stars

So as I said earlier today in my Book Beginnings post, I had to read this for a competition. Out of the three I've read so far, I think this is my favorite medical book. The other two books just seemed to throw facts at me and expect me to understand. This one felt like it was showing me these facts and had the most beautiful imagery.

When talking about corpses and dissecting things, most people would think "No Way." You think of macabre things, and blood and decay. This book shows you another s...more

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Mar 12, 2013 Jen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: medical

For me, this book was perfect and hit a perfect time. Much longer review later., but the writing was fluid and lovely. The themes and musings on our relationships to death hit on the same line as thoughts I have been having lately. I love medical history and medical nonfiction and memoirs, and this was one of the best I have read.

Ok, longer review. This book both cemented my fascination with wanting to go to medical school or some further medical training, and also cemented the fact that I coul...more For me, this book was perfect and hit a perfect time. Much longer review later., but the writing was fluid and lovely. The themes and musings on our relationships to death hit on the same line as thoughts I have been having lately. I love medical history and medical nonfiction and memoirs, and this was one of the best I have read.

Ok, longer review. This book both cemented my fascination with wanting to go to medical school or some further medical training, and also cemented the fact that I could never handle medical school. Not necessarily because of the gross anatomy cadaver dissection lab, but despite my love of medicine, anatomy, science, and knowledge, I think it's just too grueling. However, it also drove home a point that I wish I had known a few years ago. I did half of a two year surgical tech program(operating room assistant) before dropping out for v various reasons. One of the reasons I chose that program was that I knew it was hard. One of the biggest reasons I had for leaving the program was the feeling that I had no idea what I was doing, and wasn't really getting taught that. Apparently, all medical students feel the same way, only some are made aware of these feelings through their instructors and peers and can talk about it, and others are just made to feel that it's all you and in your head. This knowledge or having had more open discussion about it might have changed my mind. She discusses a paper she read about detached concern and death anxiety among first year medical students in relation to their experiences in the cadaver lab, and how that course helps create the insider/outsider mentality and emotional strength needed to practice medicine.

Later in the book, she talks about this further, about how a failure or weakness on the part of someone working in the medical field can cost someone their life, or cause great harm, but how no one wants to talk about these feelings:
"It is unacceptable to fail; it is unacceptable to be weak. Admission of either makes one seem unfit for the lofty charge...And thus in the realm of the superhuman there is no room for human frailty, and admission of it by one risks revealing the illusion of the many. So no one speaks up, and as a result each person believes that she is alone in her experience. "

I really related to the author's experiences with her surgical rotations and early patient care situations. I had what I feel are some really interesting experiences and saw things that a lot of people don't get to see or are even aware of. At one point the author talks about returning home after a day in the operating room and shares this thought with her partner:
"The second thing I tell her is that I am stunned by how roughly the body is treated during surgery, how the intestines were pulled out of the body and shoved back in, then mashed on one side, literally tucked tightly into the body beneath a towel and held back by huge metal clamps. I tell her that it is not at all the way one would intuitively treat a living body."

This is something I felt and witnessed during my time in the OR. The taught us about how to depersonalize, and yet at the same time how much care needs to be take to not have someone's arm turned the wrong way for a few hours to prevent a pinched nerve. Medicine is full of large contradictions.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about people's relationships to and feelings surrounding death, and this book had a lot of musings on that as well. One of the things I was most dreading and looking forward to was near the end of the book/course when the author and lab partners would have to finally reveal the cadavers face and finish their dissection. As much as you want to compartmentalize, seeing a face of someone that could be your grandmother and brings life into this thing you have densensized yourself to for months is challenging and through provoking. I found it fascinating when she talked about how many medical students have nightmares throughout their semester in the cadaver lab.

The final takeaway I got from this book was that I almost definitely want to donate my body to science when I die. I even read about the requirements of some of the local medical schools. There are many ways your donation can be used, and I would be happy to do something for science and academia.
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Jan 26, 2011 Amanda rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-memoir, north-america

There were three(!) pages of critical praise for this book at the beginning of the text. I kind of rolled my eyes and thought that there was simply no way this was that good and that deserving.

I was wrong. It is clear that Montross was a writer before she was a medical student -- every word, every phrasing, every musing she has on her cadaver Eve is poetic and thoughtful. She doesn't shy away from details, so if you have a weak stomach or can't stand reading about surgeries and the body, this wo...more

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Jan 03, 2011 Liralen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, non-fiction, reviewed, doctors

Overall impression: Oh, how fascinating. Well, that, and hi, I am never going to be a doctor, thank you very much.

Rather lyrical writing, enough explanation that I had a grasp on what was going on but didn't feel overwhelmed, and hey, some fabulous tidbits: turns out, for example, that J.K. Rowling didn't come up with the Hand of Glory. Who knew?

I rated this as I did, and not higher (3.5 would be okay), because I felt both that the book didn't always stay on topic and that it could have used a b...more

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Jun 22, 2009 Amber rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'd probbaly give this one another half star if I could. Montross, in all the gory detail, outlines the first semester of medicial school as related to the dissection of her cadavar, Eve, by her group of 4 first year medical students. It is extemely interesting (albeit sometimes disturbing) as she parallels the history of gross anatomy studies and the procurement of cadavars to what they do to Eve. She also poetically relates the feelings she has as she sees the very same tendons, bones, and org...more

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May 19, 2009 Broodingferret rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, death, philosophy, biographies

This was a marvelous book. Montross has a Masters in poetry and it shows. I've spoken with people who have discussed the strain of Gross Anatomy, and its subsequently high attrition rate. This book reads as if Montross had taken every one of those conversations and purified and condensed them into their most basic essence, creating an accessible and emotive account of both the psychological difficulties involved with and the personal insights into self, life, and career that grew from performing...more

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Jan 22, 2011 Nikki rated it 3 of 5 stars

Before Montross went to medical school, she was a poet and you can tell. She looks at anatomy class historically and culturally as well as opening the specifics of dissection of her group's particular body to the reader. She writes with compassion. She skillfully negotiates emotion, drama, comedy and does it all while examining the larger issues of medical ethics and training. I thought this book was remarkable and if you've got the stomach you should read it. You'll never look at your doctor q...more

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May 27, 2012 Loren rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: morbid-books

Such a lovely book! Christine Montross was a poet before she decided to study medicine. The beauty of the language she chooses and the depth of her curiosity and compassion make this book one that I will return to again. I'm sure I will take more away from it on each reading.

Montross's experiences in the cadaver lab mirror and expand upon mine in such a way that now I am grateful not only to the people who donate their bodies to teach, but to the medical students who must undergo such deep, emot...more

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Dec 27, 2009 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars

"The lessons her body taught me are of critical importance to my knowledge of medicine, but her selfless gesture of donation will be my lasting example of how much it is possible to give to a total stranger in the hopes of healing."

This book was beautiful. When I first saw it on the library shelf, the premise intrigued me - a woman's story of her relationship with her anatomy lab cadaver during her first semester of med school. And she does not mince words when it comes to the work she does on...more

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Aug 12, 2008 D'Anne rated it 2 of 5 stars

Recommended to D'Anne by: Rosemary

Shelves: non-fiction

Montross, I should note, is a poet. She graduated from the University of Michigan MFA program just as I did, albeit years earlier. Afterwards she headed to med school to become a doctor. The combination of these two professions means that Body of Work is a beautifully written book. Montross's prose is quite lovely and she treats her subject matter with respect and awe.

Perhaps it is because I have read several books on death and what happens after one dies, including Mary Roach's Stiff: The Curi...more

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Mar 23, 2011 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Finally, I have finished this book! I think it is a wonderful read, outstanding really. I think I started it before my Mom died, and got just barely into it. She (Montross) goes through her first semester of med school and the human anatomy class in which she and her class all dissect cadavers. While it was not very conscious for me, I think I needed to not read about dead human bodies in the context of dissection for a while. I wanted to, and was very interested having studied anatomy and worki...more Finally, I have finished this book! I think it is a wonderful read, outstanding really. I think I started it before my Mom died, and got just barely into it. She (Montross) goes through her first semester of med school and the human anatomy class in which she and her class all dissect cadavers. While it was not very conscious for me, I think I needed to not read about dead human bodies in the context of dissection for a while. I wanted to, and was very interested having studied anatomy and working as an LMT. I tried a few times over the years to get back into this book, but it didn't happen for me. Possibly since it is not fiction - it's very well written and as I said a great read but not the same as getting lost in a novel, something I love to do, and I think that took precedence over completing this book for quite some time. All that said, I am freaking thrilled with Body of Work over all. I have read in other reviews that Montross is a poet, which is clear as day in her choice of words and metaphors - lovely. She also comes across in this book, to me, as just a wonderful woman, full of compassion, curiosity and emotion. My kind of doctor who is unfortunately a rare breed.
I read a few reviews by folks who did not care for this book so much, and noticed that several of them were med students too, maybe this speaks to her uniqueness as a student and ultimately a doctor. I never found her descriptions of the dissections or of her feelings that accompanied them as repetitive or dragging on, they were very much the same way I imagine I might feel - the ones I would be capable of that is - I do not think I have what it takes to saw open a skull and remove the brain or saw the pelvis in half and remove one leg and half the pelvic bowl from the rest of the body.
If these are things that you can not imagine even reading about, perhaps this is not a book for you, but I can definitely say that Montross describes these things very genuinely as challenging and emotional tasks which changed her in one way or another - I found it all fascinating to read about. She also obviously did a whole lot of research into the history of human dissection which is some absolutely fascinating stuff. I would love for someone I know to read this too in order to discuss... maybe my book club pick but I don't know if it would go over well :)(less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Isabel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Unique perspective. Intriguing subject. But lots of unnecessary rambling and lacks direction at times. A few brilliant sentences and thoughts are held loosely together by repetitive fluff. Although this is a narrative, her tone changes from subjectively dramatic to serious diction. The serious diction part is when she is sharing the history and research she did. Although extensive and interesting, I found it hard to believe her at times simply because she went from "this is a book about me", to...more

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Jul 16, 2012 Molly rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-fireplace-in-winter-of-the-prose

In graduate school, there was a large part of me that wanted to observe the human anatomy lab for my "Related Topics" requirement. The summer before my final year, I went to Bread Loaf where Marianne Boruch read from her Cadaver, Speak sequence published in The Georgia Review. Seeing The Bodies Exhibit really challenged my own work and triggered the full-length I've begun to send out.

Reading this book really pitched the emotional impact of human lab in such a real way--the narrative perfectly a...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Zita Jackson rated it 4 of 5 stars

I liked this book because I'm interested in going to medical school so it shed a little bit of light on the lifestyle but it was also a learning experience. She goes into great detail about the history of cadavers and the human anatomy lab. I think it was well written though at times a little tough to see where she was going. She tied it together well and overall I appreciated the author for inviting us into her world.

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Jul 16, 2012 Luann rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book may not be for everyone as it contains detailed descriptions of dissections. I found it fascinating, however. I learned a little about how doctors become doctors and about how complex the body is. But the biggest lesson I got from this book that looks closely at the body in death is just how fragile life is, how lucky we are to wake up each morning to breathe, to eat, to laugh and to love.

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