Bonus category: Audiobook
Not for the faint of stomach!
Mary Roach is the master of really digging in and approaching a subject from every angle--this time with corpses. It may seem like a strange subject for a book, but most adults in my acquaintance have thought about death at some point in their lives, as well as what they may or may not want done with their bodies after the fact.
Roach divides her chapters by different methods of body "disposal." She discusses bodies that have been donated to science and various scientific studies that need to use a human body for accurate testing--anatomy, decomposition, crash injuries, and more. Then she writes about the history of these studies and others. There's even some information about differences between cultures and variations on the memorial ritual. Lastly, Roach discusses some advances that have been made in the field of ecologically-improved burial methods, as well as her thoughts and decisions on what she wants done with her own body when she dies.
As I said before, Stiff is not for the squeamish. It's very detailed, and even I had trouble eating breakfast while listening to the chapter on decomposition studies. But it gave me a lot to think about and a well-rounded viewpoint on why donated corpses are needed for scientific studies. If you're a science buff or even just vaguely fascinated in studies on the human body, this book is for you!
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