Rating: 
Summary: Death is not the end
Review: This is a book about dead bodies. As Mary Roach demonstrates in her new book, some bodies go on to do remarkable things, such as helping FAA investigators understand why a plane crashed or helping auto-makers design safety features that save thousands of lives. Others are asked to do nothing more than rot away quietly at a research lab where forensic scientists study decomposition in order to improve crime scene investigation techniques. Some are put to slightly more questionable uses, such as the severed heads used by plastic surgeons to practice their facelift technique (surely not what people had in mind when they donated their bodies to science). Others have had even more bizarre adventures. Cadavers have been nailed to a cross in order to prove the authenticity of the shroud of Turin. Severed heads have been poked, prodded, and given transfusions in an attempt to revive them long after they and their bodies have parted ways.The anonymous cadavers that are the subjects of STIFF could hardly have asked for a livelier or more sympathetic chronicler than Mary Roach, who has managed to write a book that balances sensitivity and respect with a wonderfully sharp wit. In fact, STIFF is unexpectedly and quite blessedly hilarious, although the humor never comes at the expense at the dead bodies that populate its pages. Instead, Roach uses humor as a kind of psychic safety valve, a vital and much-appreciated tension release from what is, at times, some very intense subject matter. The real highlights of this book are the sections that delve into some of the more disreputable uses of cadavers. There is a droll and utterly hilarious history of body snatching and a short overview of medicinal cannibalism (human mummy confection, anyone?). ThereÕs a fascinating catalog of the methods historically used to make sure that a dead body was in fact dead. This chapter culminates in what is surely the most spectacularly strange section of the book, in which Roach relates the story of Dr. Robert White, a neurosurgeon who in the mid-1960s performed a series of surgeries constituting what could be considered the first head transplant (or full body transplant, depending on your point of view). A wonderfully engrossing book on a subject most of us are reluctant to talk about.
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Summary: Death Takes a Holiday
Review: Mary Roach's mordantly humorous "Stiff" is an employment manual for the recently deceased. It is fascinating just how busy we can be, even if dead. In fact, there are a number of productive, socially redeeming careers ahead of us -- should we so choose -- once we have shuffled off this old mortal coil and so on. Apart from medical education, organ transplantation, crash test dummies, job openings also include compost (but only if you are Swedish). While the ick factor may be high for some readers, "Stiff" is not, nor is it meant to be, a gross-out book. Here the title does the book a bit of a disservice, for Roach's approach, while light-handed, is always respectful, even tempered with some old fashioned respect for the dead. For the most part "Stiff" is a fascinating compendium of things we always wanted to know about death (and perhaps a few things we did not) but were afraid to ask. A highly recommended companion piece to "How We Die" and "The American Way of Death."
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Summary: This book made me laugh so hard I nearly choked!
Review: Well researched, well written, thought provoking, and witty. A thoroughly enjoyable and interesting read.
Rating:
Summary: A lovely gondola ride through a swamp
Review: This is one of the funniest books I have ever read. Mary Roach has a unique comic style. She effortlessly knits history, medical data and aberrant minutae into a wild comedy routine in which punch lines pile up on punch lines. The level of intelligence and gut-splitting comedy is arresting. The bizarre footnotes alone are worth the read. Stiff takes the least funny topic I can think of and rips it into comic shreds. Absolutely a great read.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it - this Stiff rocks!
Review: Hysterically, and unexpectedly, funny. Welcome to the body farm, where cadavers convene outdoors to teach the living -- sounds gruesome, and it is, but Ms. Roach finds the humor and answers all the questions that pop up in one's mind. Some of the "teachers" are buried, some rest beneath a light cover of leaves, and others lay nearly nude in full sunlight while researchers catalog insects and decomposition rates. And this is only one chapter! Read about head transplants and science's opinions as to whether the beheaded among us lived long enough to register their plights. Find out about embalming and burial, and far tidier methods of becoming one again with nature. I read this book straght through until I was done, and I am still laughing. Ms. Roach is an original both in her writing and in her research.
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Summary: One of the Best Books of 2003
Review: A book about cadavers (well, it's really about death itself) was the last thing I thought I'd ever pick up. But after reading the first few paragraphs, I knew I was in good hands. Sure, the content is fascinating in its own right, but Mary Roach's gift for writing is just as noteworthy. As has been noted elsewhere, she approaches a grisly subject with, alternately, humor, curiosity, forceful opinion (directed mainly at the quacks from previous centuries and their butchery in the name of science), graphic (but not gratuitous) detail, and unfailing respect for her subjects. Thanks to "Stiff," I'm not so squeamish about issues surrounding the deceased anymore. Mary Roach is a great writer. This book is a keeper.
Rating:
Summary: Good Book with Some New Perspectives on Death
Review: First, Mary Roach has a terrific sense of humor. She takes a challenging subject and finds ways to make you laugh just when you need it. Her humor is irreverent, but never disrespectful. She can laugh at some of the absurdity, yet still appreciate the pain dying can bring. This is well written, well researched, and thorough. My one, very minor complaint is with the organization of the book. I feel as though it starts much more strongly than it finishes. So, for example, she might have considered organizing the chapters differently. I don't think you need a particularly strong stomach to read this book. Only one item actually turned my stomach. But when it did, it *really* did. The book succeeded in making me think about my own death. It also made me think about my mother's death and made it easier to accept certain events. ... I hope this book will make you laugh and then think too.
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Summary: Gallows humor at its very best
Review: In a cross between investigative reporting and hilarity, San Francisco journalist Mary Roach examines and proves her claim that 'death doesn't have to be boring.' And she proves it with remarkable aplomb, including the answer to the nagging question of what really kills you if you jump from the Golden Gate Bridge.
Stiff is highly readable, even if you're squeamish (which I'm not), because of the macabre, bizarre, and esoteric nature of much of her material, as well as the gallows humor and dark hilarity with which she spices her writing. That 'material' would be CADAVERS. Dum-de-dum-dum. Your only risk is that you might die laughing.
Read it. Actually, buy a signed first edition. I think this one will stand the test of time.
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Summary: Fun with the Dead
Review: I loved this book. It is filled with great history and ever surprising humor. Roach makes the creepiest and most unsettling situations and themes interesting and compelling.The writing is crisp, illuminating and at times screw ball and as I contemplated corpses in their many activites and professions I gained a new respect for them. I don't think I want my body used as a crash test dummy or have a group of medical students slice me up but Roach gives a new respect to people who give their bodies for these uses. A must read for the curious with a sense of humor.
Rating: 
Summary: Not THAT funny
Review: Overall did not think the book was funny. A few cute one liners but not much else. Was fairly well researched, but do you really want to know this stuff,even for a laugh?
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