Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers April 24th, 2010
Originally Written 03/01/05
I just finished listening to a really interesting audio book tonight. It’s Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, by Mary Roach. It’s all about the various ways cadavers are used in all the fields of medical science, from disections in anatomy labs, to car-safety tests and firearm and armor testing. It also covers a lot of history, from the dark days of grave robbing for disection cadavers in Victorian times, to all sorts of funeary practices.
The author is pretty good too. She had a nice wry sense of humor, which helped deflect from the heaviness of the subject matter, but she was also sincere. I liked the choice of narrator for the audio book too. It was a fascinating read or listen, sometimes macabre, but in a neat way and always interesting, and definitely profound. It makes you think about what to do with your remains after you die. While medical science still sounds weird to me, I should really go ahead and register as an organ donor.