Book review: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

I recently read a book which, as you can tell by it's title, is no run-of-the-mill book. It's a non-fiction account of the history, uses, and stories of cadavers. Let me say this right off the bat about this book - you won't like it if one or more of the following apply to you:

• You don't like reading about cadavers in sometimes surprisingly clear detail.
• You're easily offended.

For everyone else, this book has a lot of interesting information. We all know about anatomy classes' use of bodies, but who knew how important they still are for crash testing?

Two really interesting concepts emerged from this book for me. One is that there are many more people studying dead bodies than I thought, and for more reasons. The other: human composting. Strange, and a little gross... enough said.

Overall, the author's style is humorous and engaging; she makes the material interesting and explains background really well. Meanwhile, she finds places throughout the book to address real issues facing those left behind. One-and-a-half thumbs up.

You can read a better review than mine here; you can check it out on Amazon here.