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Copy/paste the text below into your blog. <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145.Stiff_The_Curious_Lives_of_Human_Cadavers?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers" border="0" src="http://s3.amazonaws.com/photo.goodreads.com/books/1168349242m/32145.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/32145.Stiff_The_Curious_Lives_of_Human_Cadavers?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7956.Mary_Roach">Mary Roach</a><br/><br/> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/19841832?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a> rating: 4 of 5 stars<br/>Have you ever wondered what happens after death? I’m not talking about the spiritual part or anything to do with personal religious beliefs. I’m talking about the question of what happens to your body after you have ceased to inhabit it. What happens to the physical matter that is left behind? The corpse. The cadaver. The remains. <br/> <br/>Mary Roach examines this exact question in her novel "Stiff," giving readers a glimpse into "The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers." Her research delves deep into the history of cadaver usage and surfaces in the shocking, little known uses of cadavers today. The topic of discussion may be one that is uncommon at the dinner table; however, Mary Roach talks to her readers in a conversational, humorous, nonchalant tone and as a result, her words seem to come alive on the pages even as she continues to talk about the dead. <br/> <br/>Speaking of dinner table topics, Mary Roach begins with a quick comparison of a cadaver with an everyday meal. She says, <br/> <br/>“The problem with cadavers is that they look so much like people. It’s the reason most of us prefer a pork chop to a slice of whole suckling pig. It’s the reason we say ‘pork’ and ‘beef’ instead of ‘pig’ and ‘cow.’ Dissection and surgical instruction, like meat-eating, require a carefully maintained set of illusions and denial” (Roach 21). <br/> <br/>Did she just say that? Roach understands many aspects of the dead as an opportunity to learn. She doesn’t just giving an informational account of cadaver usage, but also examines the way that medical students, scientists, etc. are able to cut into a body that could have been their grandmother’s. Roach shows the disconnection and objectification that is necessary in order for these people to learn how to sew on your new nose straight, how much impact a human body can survive in a car accident, how long it takes for a body to decay, etc. <br/> <br/>Containing chapters like “A Head is a Terrible Thing to Waste,” “Dead Man Driving,” “The Cadaver Who Joined the Army” and “Eat Me,” each new section is an adventure into the fascinating lives of cadavers and trust me, you won’t want to miss a minute of it. As I have said, this is a serious subject for anyone to swallow; however, Roach approaches it in a respectful way. She is sensitive to the subject of death and dying, and never strays from her own topic, which is the human body, devoid of life. <br/> <br/><br/><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/1071136?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>