Audiobook Review: Stiff written by Mary Roach and read by Shelly Frasier

Mary Roach’s Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers was absolutely the grossest book to which I have ever listened, and probably the book from which I’ve learned the most. I will not lie.  I loved this book.  Capital “L” love.  I am not even kidding.  I would listen to it a hundred times.  I know what you are thinking. How could on possibly love a book about dead bodies?  Dead freaking bodies? 

The truth is that Mary Roach uses her dry wit to break up the almost unbearably disgusting sections of her book.  It is a great combination.  Believe me, almost unbearably disgusting is a perfect way to describe when Roach describes human dissection or decay or even preservation.  There were times when I found myself literally saying, “Gross gross gross eww bleck gross,” while listening to a particularly disgusting section.  Humans love to learn about themselves, and gross things so when the gross thing is a human (or rather, was) one cannot resist.  I couldn’t. 

Shelly Frasier performed wonderfully; however, in the earlier chapters of the book, I noticed that there were quite a number of places where the audio had been spliced together.  I wonder if Frasier needed breaks in able to read such dark content in such a light-hearted manner.  That is pure speculation, but I would not be surprised if it were true. 

This may be the one and only non-fiction book that I wouldn’t mind reading, or listening to, again.  I can’t wait to read Roach’s other books.  She makes learning a blast. (I’m sure the subject matter helped.  I know everyone, even if they swear that it’s too morbid, wants to know about dead bodies.  It’s like learning swear words when you’re a kid, it’s taboo, but you want to anyway.)