I read Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers for Book Club in June. And let me tell you, folks, it was great. We get a ton of information about how the dead human body has helped with great scientific and technical advances. We also get chapters on crucifiction experiements, the funeral industry, head transplants(!!!), and cannibalism. I found something interesting in every chapter, but for me the biggest strength was the chapter on the ways to deal with human remains. We sometimes have a difficult time thinking about what happens after we’re dead, and the ideas she presents here, while they may be uncomfortable for some people, deserve to be read and thought about by a wide audience.

Roach’s style is a great fit for this material. She’s reverent when the subject matter demands it, and light and amusing when you need a bit of a break from the graphic details. There were points where I thought she got a little rambly, but that’s a minor quibble for a book this enjoyable. All in all, Stiff is humorous, intelligent, thought-provoking, and extremely readable, and I haven’t read a book that I could recommend this highly in over a year.