Stiff

Stiff by Mary Roach
Non-Fiction

This is a very different book. It deals with the subject of cadavers. What happens to you when you are dead? If you donate your body, what happens then? Anything having to deal with cadavers is talked about.

I was interested to see that the Body farm in Tennessee was discussed. I have read all of Bill Blass's books with interest and this just provided an added dimension.

Roach touches upon everything including cannibalism and differing methods of funeral arrangements. It is all done with a sense of humour. Without the humor it would have been as stale as days old bread. She asks the questions no one would have the nerve to ask. Also along the way she gets yourself into 'trouble' trying to follow up on some myths. Roach seems to take a verboten subject and make it interesting.

I lost interest towards the end. If the book had ended about 50 pages sooner or the chapter on a greener type of 'burial' were skipped, I would have been happier.

First Line: "The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship"

Rating:

(3.5/5)