About the Author

Mary Roach is a journalist. She has written for Salon, Wired, GQ, Discover, Vogue and the New York Times Magazine. This is her first book.

Reviews

[A] mordantly witty history of the scientific contributions made by the no-longer-living.

[Roach's] knack for detailed research and loose Dave Barry-ish style makes "Stiff" a leisurely and enjoyable read.--Tom Westin (05/11/2003)

[Roach] artfully and humorously unwraps the mystery of the dead body....an interesting and informative read.--Deborah Love (09/21/2003)

[Roach] has written a curiously funny, touching and respectful study.--Nancy Summers (08/17/2003)

[Roach] manages to make material that normally comes with a warning for the faint-hearted somehow light-hearted.--Jill Wolfson (04/27/2003)

A fascinating book and, once you pick it up, you won't likely put it down.--William R Wineke (09/14/2003)

A joy to read....this is wonderful stuff.--Tim Redmond (05/28/2003)

A laugh-out-loud funny book....one of those wonderful books that offers enlightenment in the guise of entertainment.

A quick and compelling, if slightly uneasy, read.--Justin Bauer (06/26/2003)

A very funny book....full of surprises.--Craig McLaughlin (07/27/2003)

Acutely entertaining, morbidly fascinating.

An informative, gently funny but never irreverent look at the various uses society makes of the dead.--Tom Pantera (06/01/2003)

An unflinching, often hilarious cultural history.--Erica C Barnett (10/30/2003)

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

As informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty....Impossible to put down.

As weird as the book gets, Roach manages to convey a sense of respect and appreciation for her subjects.

Bizarrely entertaining.--Susan Ellis (08/14/2003)

Bring[s] alive a subject that has the potential to be deadly dull.--Steve Fiffer (06/29/2003)

Delightful....authoritative, endlessly curious and drolly funny.--Adam Wong (05/11/2003)

Despite the irreverent, macabre title, this is a respectful and serious examination of what happens to cadavers, past and present.--Michael D Cramer (03/01/2003)

Droll, dark, and quite wise, Stiff makes being dead funny and fascinating and weirdly appealing.--Susan Orlean

Every detail is fascinating.--Henry Kisor (04/13/2003)

Every page fairly drips with dark humor.--Matt Palmquist (04/30/2003)

Expect the insightful with the hilarious.--Bridget Kinsella (05/05/2003)

Fascinating and oddly fun.

Fascinating, unexpectedly fresh and funny look at the multiplicity of ways in which cadavers benefit the living.... entertaining, absolutely.

Genuinely funny and destined to be a classic read.--Donald A Collins (06/01/2003)

Her morbid subject perverse, unsettling and voyeuristic makes her book hard to put down.--Dean Narcisco (05/27/2003)

It's a rare talent that can make people want to throw up and laugh at the same time.--Roy Rivenberg (07/03/2003)

Lively and quirky....the writer's style is genuinely warm...she has a keen eye for observation of unique and ironic details.--Michael Jaffee (06/01/2003)

Mary Roach is an extremely funny science writer--Laurence A Marschall

Our own instinctive discomfort with death provides fodder for Roach's dry sense of humor throughout the book--Ana Marie Cox (06/04/2003)

Outrageously funny, irreverent" but respectful....so delightfully written, this book is difficult to put down.--Brian Richard Boylan (05/11/2003)

Roach displays her metier in tangents about bizarre incendents in pathological history.--Gilbert Taylor (03/15/2003)

Roach exhibits both a keen sense of humor and a sincere respect for the dearly departed.

Roach is a masterful writer....Irreverent? Maybe a little. Disrespectful? Emphatically no.--Lisa Parsons (06/19/2003)

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 (06/12/2003)

Roach...goes into gruesome detail, but she also succeeds in not making the subject at hand too morbid.--Kim Colton (05/21/2003)

Roach's conversational tone and her gallows humor bring her subjects to life....Morbidly entertaining.--Alex Abramovich (06/02/2003)

Roach's deliberate carefulness diminishes the topic's gore and sets a comfortable, comic tone that finds solace in its own oddity.--Tom Lynch (05/22/2003)

Roach's dry, irreverent wit makes for a delightful though never disrespectful read.--Les Simpson (04/17/2003)

Surprisingly entertaining. Similar in tone to Bill Bryson's travel books, Roach manages to be humorous yet respectful.--Rick Mathis (08/03/2003)

The numerous tidbits of information derived from the author's travels and interviews make [this book] uniquely appealing.--Joseph H Davis, MD (07/16/2003)

This bizarre tome will shock, disgust, intrigue and entertain you all at the same time.--Mary Morrison (09/25/2003)

Though the cover...will draw many readers to this book, its deft prose will keep them returning.--Fred Bortz (07/27/2003)

Well written, with a reader-friendly format.--Howard S Pitkow

Well-written and deadly funny.--Bruce Willey (06/19/2003)

What saves the subject matter from intolerable gruesomeness is Roach. Her interest is genuine, despite her droll tone.--B.T. Shaw (05/25/2003)

Whimsical, hysterical and terribly interesting.--Katy Human (05/31/2003)

A joy to read....this is wonderful stuff. -- Tim Redmond (05/28/2003)

A quick and compelling, if slightly uneasy, read. -- Justin Bauer (06/26/2003)

A very funny book....full of surprises. -- Craig McLaughlin (07/27/2003)

An unflinching, often hilarious cultural history. -- Erica C Barnett (10/30/2003)

Bizarrely entertaining. -- Susan Ellis (08/14/2003)

Every detail is fascinating. -- Henry Kisor (04/13/2003)

Every page fairly drips with dark humor. -- Matt Palmquist (04/30/2003)

Expect the insightful with the hilarious. -- Bridget Kinsella (05/05/2003)

Her morbid subject-perverse, unsettling and voyeuristic-makes her book hard to put down. -- Dean Narcisco (05/27/2003)

Mary Roach is an extremely funny science writer -- Laurence A Marschall

Outrageously funny, irreverent"-but respectful....so delightfully written, this book is difficult to put down. -- Brian Richard Boylan (05/11/2003)

Well written, with a reader-friendly format. -- Howard S Pitkow

Well-written and deadly funny. -- Bruce Willey (06/19/2003)

Whimsical, hysterical and terribly interesting. -- Katy Human (05/31/2003)

''As weird as the book gets, Roach manages to convey a sense of respect and appreciation for her subjects."