Vincent's review
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach
I have just finished reading Stiff. It's rare that a book makes me squeamish - and in some instances - scared!
What kept me from putting the book down was the narrator's slightly sarcastic, sort of matter of fact, but always friendly tone. She successfully portrayed some pretty gruesome details in a sensitive and honest/truthful manner (at least as far as I know).
It is oversimplification to say that Stiff just addresses what happens to your body when you donate it to science after you die. She also provides some detailed background on live head transplants and cannibalism. Both of which have their place in serious modern medical research. These were the chapters I found most unsettling.
In addressing live head transplants she describes how a Russian scientist successfully transplanted the head of a live dog onto the body of another live dog. She recounts the doctor's belief that the transplanted head was sentient because it shed a tear.
She conclu...more
What kept me from putting the book down was the narrator's slightly sarcastic, sort of matter of fact, but always friendly tone. She successfully portrayed some pretty gruesome details in a sensitive and honest/truthful manner (at least as far as I know).
It is oversimplification to say that Stiff just addresses what happens to your body when you donate it to science after you die. She also provides some detailed background on live head transplants and cannibalism. Both of which have their place in serious modern medical research. These were the chapters I found most unsettling.
In addressing live head transplants she describes how a Russian scientist successfully transplanted the head of a live dog onto the body of another live dog. She recounts the doctor's belief that the transplanted head was sentient because it shed a tear.
She conclu...more
