Welcome to our 2nd Annual Birthday Bash as Divination Hollow Reviews!

We’ll be celebrating all month long with a series of posts by our team and esteemed colleagues and this year’s theme is “Going to the Movies!” Join us as we share themed content with special “tickets” for each category inspired by cinema.

Celebrate with us!

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Am I obsessed with Death, the big D, the ceaseless void, the great beyond? Maybe. I subscribe to two magazines. One is about current science goings-on and the other is about death. Fiction and nonfiction that explores death. (@thedeadlands on Twitter and thedeadlands.com if you are interested). So, on the one hand, there is life, the science of living on this planet and what humans and nature can accomplish, and then the other is what happens after? Perhaps it is a healthy balance. 

And this may make me a bit macabre, but if you are here, then you know. You get it. So. On my birthday, as my meat suit ages and the Earth cycles me one more year towards the end, I decided to listen to Stiff while doing a jigsaw puzzle. And, hahaha, now that I think about it, the puzzle was houseplants. So again, with the juxtaposition of living and dead. I could think of nothing better to do on my birthday; top two favorite activities, really. Needless to say, it was just a very on brand day. 

BUT, this is a review, not a journey into my day. So, here goes. Stiff is humorous, but insightful. Roach brings a level of levity to a very serious topic, making it easier to digest, but at the same time, there is a very real respect for the dead that comes out in each section. I am not entirely sure most people actually know what happens to cadavers after death, I know that I only knew a little. There are so many options! And this book is a fascinating journey into many of the possibilities. Roach debunks myths on what happens at Body Farms or Anatomy Labs, or even in Funeral Homes and in other cultures, while shining a light on how valuable the information gleaned from the dead is for the living. 

If you decide to take a peek into the Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, I hope that you come away with a better idea of what exactly you want to happen with your human remains. Mary ends the book with a little caveat that so much really depends on who you leave behind and what they are comfortable with as well, because they still have to live with the decision, you don’t. But I think it is healthy to talk about it! Discuss your options and let your loved ones know what your wishes are. I think we as a society need to have more open, frank conversations about what happens to our meat suits once we exit them. At the moment, I want to be compost for a tree. I want my death to bring forth life. See, healthy balance. 

Author/Buy/Goodreads 

Review by Teresa B. Ardrey

Twitter @teresa_ardrey