Stiff

Reviews / Votes

"Roach exhibits both a keen sense of humor and a sincere respect for the dearly departed." -- American Scientist "A very funny book....full of surprises." -- Craig McLaughlin - Arkansas Democrat-Gazette "Roach saw some macabre things, but she describes them with respect and irresistible humor." -- Austin American-Statesman "Roach displays her metier in tangents about bizarre incendents in pathological history." -- Gilbert Taylor - Booklist "Surprisingly entertaining. Similar in tone to Bill Bryson's travel books, Roach manages to be humorous yet respectful." -- Rick Mathis - Chattanooga Times Free Press "Every detail is fascinating." -- Henry Kisor - Chicago Sun-Times "Bring[s] alive a subject that has the potential to be deadly dull." -- Steve Fiffer - Chicago Tribune "Her morbid subject-perverse, unsettling and voyeuristic-makes her book hard to put down." -- Dean Narcisco - Columbus Dispatch "This bizarre tome will shock, disgust, intrigue and entertain you all at the same time." -- Mary Morrison - Coral Gables Gazette "[Roach's] knack for detailed research and loose Dave Barry-ish style makes Stiff a leisurely and enjoyable read." -- Tom Westin - Daily Yomiuri "Though the cover...will draw many readers to this book, its deft prose will keep them returning." -- Fred Bortz - Dallas Morning News "Outrageously funny, irreverent"-but respectful....so delightfully written, this book is difficult to put down." -- Brian Richard Boylan - Denver Post "Whimsical, hysterical and terribly interesting." -- Katy Human - Detroit Free Press "A fascinating survey of the data yielded by corpses both medieval and modern." -- Discover Magazine "Acutely entertaining, morbidly fascinating." -- Forbes "An informative, gently funny but never irreverent look at the various uses society makes of the dead." -- Tom Pantera - Forum "Well-written and deadly funny." -- Bruce Willey - Good Times Magazine "Roach is a masterful writer....Irreverent? Maybe a little. Disrespectful? Emphatically no." -- Lisa Parsons - Hippo Press, Manchester, NH "The numerous tidbits of information derived from the author's travels and interviews make [this book] uniquely appealing." -- Joseph H Davis, MD - Journal of the American Medical Association "Fascinating, unexpectedly fresh and funny look at the multiplicity of ways in which cadavers benefit the living.... entertaining, absolutely." -- Kirkus Reviews starred review "Despite the irreverent, macabre title, this is a respectful and serious examination of what happens to cadavers, past and present." -- Michael D Cramer - Library Journal "As weird as the book gets, Roach manages to convey a sense of respect and appreciation for her subjects." -- Los Angeles Times "It's a rare talent that can make people want to throw up and laugh at the same time." -- Roy Rivenberg - Los Angeles Times Book Review "Bizarrely entertaining." -- Susan Ellis - Memphis Flyer "Mary Roach is an extremely funny science writer" -- Laurence A Marschall - Natural History "A funny but never disrespectful look at the curious world of cadaver research." -- Netsurfer.com "Roach's deliberate carefulness diminishes the topic's gore and sets a comfortable, comic tone that finds solace in its own oddity." -- Tom Lynch - New City "[A] mordantly witty history of the scientific contributions made by the no-longer-living." -- Outside "Roach's conversational tone and her gallows humor bring her subjects to life....Morbidly entertaining." -- Alex Abramovich - People Magazine "A quick and compelling, if slightly uneasy, read." -- Justin Bauer - Philadelphia City Paper "Roach traces the use of the cadaver...and describes odd, behind-the-scenes moments perfect to halt all discussion at dinner." -- T.D. Mobley-Martinez - Philadelphia News "Genuinely funny and destined to be a classic read." -- Donald A Collins - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review "What saves the subject matter from intolerable gruesomeness is Roach. Her interest is genuine, despite her droll tone." -- B.T. Shaw - Portland Oregonian "As informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty....Impossible to put down." -- Publishers Weekly starred review "Expect the insightful with the hilarious." -- Bridget Kinsella - PW Daily "[Roach] artfully and humorously unwraps the mystery of the dead body....an interesting and informative read." -- Deborah Love - Richmond Times-Dispatch "Lively and quirky....the writer's style is genuinely warm...she has a keen eye for observation of unique and ironic details." -- Michael Jaffee - San Antonio Express-News "A joy to read....this is wonderful stuff." -- Tim Redmond - San Francisco Bay Guardian "Fascinating and oddly fun." -- San Francisco Chronicle "Every page fairly drips with dark humor." -- Matt Palmquist - San Francisco Weekly "[Roach] manages to make material that normally comes with a warning for the faint-hearted somehow light-hearted." -- Jill Wolfson - San Jose Mercury News "Well written, with a reader-friendly format." -- Howard S Pitkow - Science Books and Films "[Roach's] firsthand accounts of places and people make this a captivating look at life after death." -- Science News "Delightful....authoritative, endlessly curious and drolly funny." -- Adam Wong - Seattle Times "[Roach] has written a curiously funny, touching and respectful study." -- Nancy Summers - Tampa Tribune & Times "An unflinching, often hilarious cultural history." -- Erica C Barnett - The Stranger "Roach's dry, irreverent wit makes for a delightful-though never disrespectful-read." -- Les Simpson - Time Out New York "A laugh-out-loud funny book....one of those wonderful books that offers enlightenment in the guise of entertainment." -- Washington City Paper "Our own instinctive discomfort with death provides fodder for Roach's dry sense of humor throughout the book" -- Ana Marie Cox - Washington Post "Roach...goes into gruesome detail, but she also succeeds in not making the subject at hand too morbid." -- Kim Colton - Willamette Week "A fascinating book and, once you pick it up, you won't likely put it down." -- William R Wineke - Wisconsin State Journal "As fascinating as it is funny.... The research is admirable, the anecdotes carefully chosen, and the prose lively; and they combine to produce a book that everyone in the health care field should have to read, and everyone else will want to." -- Caleb Carr, author of The Alienist "Droll, dark, and quite wise, Stiff makes being dead funny and fascinating and weirdly appealing." -- Susan Orlean