Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
12 journalers for this copy...
From the back cover:
Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers--some willingly, some unwittingly--have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
***
A must-read book. Absolutely fascinating, without being overly morbid or disgusting. Roach is engaging and always respectful of what happens to our earthly containers after we are finished with them. Who knew all these things were going on? A wonderful book for the living, especially as we consider what may happen next.
***
What a great book. I bought this copy simply so I could share it with more people. Trust me--you won't be disappointed.
Gave to a colleague today at work.
Stiff is an oddly compelling, often hilarious exploration of the strange lives of our bodies postmortem. For two thousand years, cadavers--some willingly, some unwittingly--have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. In this fascinating account, Mary Roach visits the good deeds of cadavers over the centuries and tells the engrossing story of our bodies when we are no longer with them.
A must-read book. Absolutely fascinating, without being overly morbid or disgusting. Roach is engaging and always respectful of what happens to our earthly containers after we are finished with them. Who knew all these things were going on? A wonderful book for the living, especially as we consider what may happen next.
What a great book. I bought this copy simply so I could share it with more people. Trust me--you won't be disappointed.
Gave to a colleague today at work.
Returned by my colleage--alas! no journal entry! I'm going to see if there's any interest in a bookring for this title....
Bookring Order
name - location - shipping pref
vivdripper - Boston, MA - US
rern - NY - US
twinkpuddin - NY- US/Canada
PRCS - Ontario, Canada - US/Canada
jnpert - West Chester, PA - US
Lil-Snoo - Irvine, CA - US asked to be skipped
andersor - CA - anywhere
BigBird2002 - AZ - US asked to be skipped
therubycanary - Nashville, TN - anywhere
tbeckross - Washington, DC - anywhere
Piggeldy - Germany - Europe
samulli - Germany
Tazzell - Scotland - anywhere<--- arrived 11/19/2006
...and finally...
back to librarymousie in NH!
I don't have "hard and fast" rules about bookrings. A month is a good time frame in which to read the book--it goes pretty fast. If I haven't heard about the book in about three months, I begin asking around just so that I know the status, and to clarify the book hasn't been lost. If you have questions, or run into problems, or lose interest--whatever--just PM me and let me know.
Hopefully, you'll all enjoy this as much as I did :)
name - location - shipping pref
vivdripper - Boston, MA - US
rern - NY - US
twinkpuddin - NY- US/Canada
PRCS - Ontario, Canada - US/Canada
jnpert - West Chester, PA - US
Lil-Snoo - Irvine, CA - US asked to be skipped
andersor - CA - anywhere
BigBird2002 - AZ - US asked to be skipped
therubycanary - Nashville, TN - anywhere
tbeckross - Washington, DC - anywhere
Piggeldy - Germany - Europe
samulli - Germany
Tazzell - Scotland - anywhere<--- arrived 11/19/2006
...and finally...
back to librarymousie in NH!
I don't have "hard and fast" rules about bookrings. A month is a good time frame in which to read the book--it goes pretty fast. If I haven't heard about the book in about three months, I begin asking around just so that I know the status, and to clarify the book hasn't been lost. If you have questions, or run into problems, or lose interest--whatever--just PM me and let me know.
Hopefully, you'll all enjoy this as much as I did :)
Sent to vivdripper today via media mail.
I can't believe I neglected to journal this when I recieved it! At any rate, I'm well into the book and am enjoying it. I must say that some parts have made me a bit uncomfortable, most likely because a family memeber has died recently. The author does a great job (and is truly humorous) keeping the reader interested in the subject,though. Thanks for letting me in on this one!
I actually recieved this book last week and forgot to journal with Thanksgiving and all. I have read some of the chapters and have to say its funny and gross in parts. I don't think that I will read through the whole thing as I do find some parts more info than I really want to know! Will be sending this on soon! Thanks!
Sending this on to twinkpuddin today. Thanks for starting this ring!
Came back from my holiday vacation on Saturday to find this waiting for me! Have got a start on it already. Thanks rern for passing along.
Finished late last nite. I found it pretty fascinating! The chapters on decay and what to do with our remains were the most intriguing to me. For some reason I had trouble with the beating-heart cadaver and head transplant chapters (perhaps tied to the 'soul' discussion in the book?) I thought the footnotes that went on tangents entirely entertaining. The author's humor, though, I often thought felt forced. Overall a great read!
Have PRCS's address and hope to get the book into the mail this week. Thanks so much to librarymousie for sharing!
Have PRCS's address and hope to get the book into the mail this week. Thanks so much to librarymousie for sharing!
Off to PRCS in Canada today - enjoy!
To be read received this from Twinkpuddin yesterday looks interesting!
Have now finished this book, although did skip
part of some chapters as I could not bear to read
some of the descriptions, the one on crash test dummies was gory.... Not for someone who is squemish
or dislikes gory descriptions after reading this book!
would not want my body to be donated to medical
research!!! Glad I had the chance to read it though
would not normally read this type of book, but being a bc member gives you a golden opportunity
to read totally different books and extend ones
reading on different subjects..
part of some chapters as I could not bear to read
some of the descriptions, the one on crash test dummies was gory.... Not for someone who is squemish
or dislikes gory descriptions after reading this book!
would not want my body to be donated to medical
research!!! Glad I had the chance to read it though
would not normally read this type of book, but being a bc member gives you a golden opportunity
to read totally different books and extend ones
reading on different subjects..
mailed this monday by surface mail to the states, not for the squeamish,could
not finish chapter on crash test dummies.
not finish chapter on crash test dummies.
Finally made it home after the big East Coast snowstorm and found this book waiting for me- it certainly brightened my day to find a little package in my mailbox. I have one bookring ahead of it, but it's next up in line. Thank you!
What a fascinating book! I read this while on a business trip in just a couple days and could not put it down (I thought I would have to read little bits at a time due to the subject matter, but that wasn't the case.)
Sort of strange, but compelling- and really made me think about what I would have done with my body. I loved the author's strange little footnotes and addendums.
It was also very interesting to see people' reactions to the book in general. I was flying Southwest for work and trust me no one wanted to sit next to the lady reading the book about dead people :) My flight attendant had read the book and when he asked me what part I was on, of course, I was on the plane crash chapter. Not very comforting! Once I finished I let a coworker read a little bit and now he wants to read it too.
Thanks for starting this ring!
Update 3-4-06- Sent via media mail to CA. Happy reading!
Sort of strange, but compelling- and really made me think about what I would have done with my body. I loved the author's strange little footnotes and addendums.
It was also very interesting to see people' reactions to the book in general. I was flying Southwest for work and trust me no one wanted to sit next to the lady reading the book about dead people :) My flight attendant had read the book and when he asked me what part I was on, of course, I was on the plane crash chapter. Not very comforting! Once I finished I let a coworker read a little bit and now he wants to read it too.
Thanks for starting this ring!
Update 3-4-06- Sent via media mail to CA. Happy reading!
Received in yesterday's mail. I will read and pass it along as soon as I can!
Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for sharing.
What a great book! Sometimes strange, and unexpectedly funny - I really enjoyed it. I tried to share it with some friends and they didn't appreciate the humor as much as I did. I guess you have to be a little 'off.' Anyway, thanks librarymousie for starting this ring!
BigBird2002 has asked to be skipped, so as soon as I get therubycanary's address I will pass it along.
Thanks again!
Update 3/30 - Sent to therubycanary today. Enjoy!
BigBird2002 has asked to be skipped, so as soon as I get therubycanary's address I will pass it along.
Thanks again!
Update 3/30 - Sent to therubycanary today. Enjoy!
Stiff was stuffed in my mailbox today when I got home from work. Doesn't look any worse for wear though. I am very curious about this subject. Being an archaeologist, I often come across bodies in another fashion and am curious to compare this experience.
I'm half way though this book and loving it. I started it on the plane on the way back from the Toronto bookcrossing conference, and yes, I did read the chapter on planes on the plane. I almost skipped it, but then decided to be brave.
I felt the need to kind of hide the cover from the other passengers lest they find me as strange as the author feared people would find her for wanting to research this subject. It is gruesome, I particularly gringed at the explanation of eye caps because I couldn't detach their use from what it would feel like when you are alive.
Her writing style is very entertaining, and makes the subject matter much easier to stomach. The footnotes were a great addition to both the humor and general information.
I felt the need to kind of hide the cover from the other passengers lest they find me as strange as the author feared people would find her for wanting to research this subject. It is gruesome, I particularly gringed at the explanation of eye caps because I couldn't detach their use from what it would feel like when you are alive.
Her writing style is very entertaining, and makes the subject matter much easier to stomach. The footnotes were a great addition to both the humor and general information.
Received today. Will get started ASAP, but I have another bookring to finish first. Thank you for sending.
I was only able to get through about half of this. It started off wonderfully, but as it went on, the more I lost interest. I'm not sure why - perhaps I just wasn't in the right frame of mind for non-fiction.
Anyway, sending to Piggeldy tomorrow.
Anyway, sending to Piggeldy tomorrow.
Journal Entry 22 by Piggeldy from Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg Germany on Thursday, September 14, 2006
The book arrived safely while I was on holidays! I am so sorry, but there are three books to read before this one, and as I hope that Samulli and Tazzell don't run out of books, I hope it's not a big problem if I need more than a month's time to read it :-(
Finally it's here! I've been wanting to read this book for ages and I put aside everything else when it arrived yesterday afternoon. To my chagrin I am already on page 135, which means I will probably be finished with it by tomorrow at the latest - which is a shame, because this book is so much fun. It is definitely among the best 10 books I have read this year and I wouldn't be surprised if it made it's way into my Top 40 books ever.
Death. It doesn't have to be boring.
I couldn't say it any better myself. :o)
More later.
Death. It doesn't have to be boring.
I couldn't say it any better myself. :o)
More later.
I was right to worry that it would be over too soon. This book should at least be twice as long. ;-)
What I enjoyed most was the chapter "Life after death" - never before has a description of human decay left me giggling and laughing out loud in many places. "Eat me" was a nice chapter to read at breakfast. But I shouldn't have attempted to read a few passages out loud to my parents (they are both annoyingly squeamish).
All in all I had a great time with this book and I would love just to start reading it again. But since this is a bookring, I will get Tazzell's address and send it off on Monday. And I will get my own copy at my next shopping spree at amazon.
Thanks a lot, librarymousie, for sharing this gem and giving me the opportunity to read it first before buying it. :o)
What I enjoyed most was the chapter "Life after death" - never before has a description of human decay left me giggling and laughing out loud in many places. "Eat me" was a nice chapter to read at breakfast. But I shouldn't have attempted to read a few passages out loud to my parents (they are both annoyingly squeamish).
All in all I had a great time with this book and I would love just to start reading it again. But since this is a bookring, I will get Tazzell's address and send it off on Monday. And I will get my own copy at my next shopping spree at amazon.
Thanks a lot, librarymousie, for sharing this gem and giving me the opportunity to read it first before buying it. :o)
It's here :D Can't wait to get into this book
Journal Entry 26 by Tazzell from Laurencekirk, Scotland United Kingdom on Tuesday, December 26, 2006
A great book and I have to agree it was all over far too soon. Having dealt with so many family and friends deaths over the last 2 years some of the subject matter was a bit close to the bone (no pun intended) but all in all I'm really glad I got to read this and certainly enjoyed Roach's sense of humour.
Thanks librarymousie for setting this ring up.
Thanks librarymousie for setting this ring up.
Apologies to librarymousie this book should have been winging it way back to you weeks ago. I'm sorry for not getting it back to you sooner but it is on its way.
Thank you again for sharing this book with me.
Thank you again for sharing this book with me.
