Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003), published by W. W. Norton & Company, (ISBN 0-393-32482-6), is a work of non-fiction by Mary Roach that details the unique scientific contributions of the deceased. It was a New York Times bestseller and has received numerous recognitions, such as the Elle Reader's Prize and the 2003 Amazon.com Editor's Choice Award. Critics and casual readers alike have found Roach to be surprisingly funny and compelling in her strange explanation of the human body's uses after death. In the book, Roach gives both first-hand accounts of cadavers in action in addition to a history of the use of cadavers and the surrounding ethical/moral issues. She also places each chapter's content into a historical context by discussing the history of the method of using a cadaver she is about to witness.
Topics Covered
The book covers 12 topics:
- Practicing cosmetic surgery on cadaver heads
- Body snatching and the early years of human dissection
- The nature of decomposition
- Cadavers as crash test dummies
- Using cadavers to analyze a crash site
- Army tests on cadavers
- Crucifixion experiments
- Beating-heart cadavers, the soul, and being buried alive
- Decapitation and human head transplant
- Cannibalism in the name of medicine
- New alternatives to burial and cremation
- The author's views on her own remains
Book Synopsis
An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers--some willingly, some unwittingly--have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They helped test France's first guillotines, answering the question, "Is the severed head aware of its circumstances, however momentarily?" They helped evaluate the army's new rifles in 1904, standing as targets before researchers' guns. They've ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there, alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet, sundered way. In this fascinating, ennobling account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries-from the anatomy labs and human-sourced pharmacies of medieval and nineteenth century Europe, to a human decay research facility at the University of Tennessee (a.k.a. the "Body Farm"), to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on the utopian future of human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
