Stiff

[myotch]

Morbid curiosity got the better of me when I picked this up from my wife's "bathroom collection". She's a "trendy" reader, I'm more of a "how to" reader, with a collection of "For Dummies" and a lot of technical books. Reading for pleasure is not my "thing".

But I am morbid. I find a secret enjoyment in reading about the people who mildly overdose on drugs and their pets eat their faces off. I have an encyclopedic knowledge of the execution protocols for the military and several US states. I am grieved that there are only two videos on the internet showing actual guillotine-ings, and that those two are shot from terrible angles. (Having a contradictory nature, I am against capital punishment - probably because I am a little shocked at my own innate voyeuristic bloodlust). I would love to see the "Bodies" exhibit, where dead bodies are dissected and cross-dissected, sometimes posed doing something inane like playing basketball.

So, we come to "Stiff".

This little number is written by a woman who is a kindred spirit. She goes to university medical schools and watch students dissect corpses or practice plastic surgery on severed heads. She researches the old trade of body snatching. She talks about the federal "body farm" where they train people and dogs to search for bodies and parts hidden on the property. Who knew there were so many ways for a body to be dispensed with?

She's funny, too. The book isn't humorous in and of itself - the humor dryly comes from her experience in the research for the book - the sideways glance from the librarian who notices her check-out history, or her confrontation with the woman who lops off the heads of the corpses for plastic surgeon courses.

The book is a few years old, but it sure is a fascinating read. I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

[senda wales]

Great book! I haven't read it in years. Mary Roach is one of my favorite authors. I don't remember everything from Stiff, but for some reason I always remembered that after being guillitoined, the human head can continue to blink for a few seconds.

The Bodies exhibit is cool.

[Darrell]

Mary is one of my personal heroes. She's fearless and funny.

[JordanMaria]

This sounds interesting. I'll have to add it to my "to read" list.