Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach

Sep 2003 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by Shelly Frasier

About this audiobook

An oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For 2,000 years, cadavers-some willingly, some unwittingly-have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, 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 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 in Tennessee, to a plastic surgery practice lab, to a Scandinavian funeral directors' conference on human composting. In her droll, inimitable voice, Roach tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.

Ratings and reviews

Such a great book! I read this a few years ago in school, and her humor is so funny and does a great job describing things.

Love the info that nobody ever thinks about until they do. Read with quite the spirit of fun and seriousness. Well done.

very well read, interesting subject and captivating

About the author

Journalist and former Salon.com columnist Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestseller Stiff, Spook, Bonk, and Packing for Mars.

Shelly Frasier has recorded over fifty audiobooks. She can be heard narrating such classics as Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll.