Mary Roach wrote “Stiff, The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.” It is a nonfiction work about the history of the use of cadavers, mostly in medicine, but also in such things as tests for car accidents and the like. So, she goes into grave robbing and the other stuff that used to happen. She has a lot of clever lines and often offers a unique spin on life and bodies. She also gives herself free license to digress at length into irrelevant stuff. She obviously did a lot of research, and the book had the feel of someone who did not know how to edit out the wrong material, or the feel of someone who needed to keep too much so the book would be long enough. I was talking with a retired doctor I met from Florida who recommended Summer Wind by Ruhl (a woman), a book about the solving of real cold crimes. He said his book was great, and then he asked why the hell would I want to read this one. So, I guess it isn’t necessarily a doctor-thing. I did end up skimming through a lot of the material I found interesting. Whether you pick this one up will depend on your mood and interest at the moment. I have another of her books with me, “Bonk, The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.” I’ll let you know when I get to if. I think I will look for Summer Wind when I get home.
WC Don
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