"Uproariously funny" doesn't seem a likely description for a book oncadavers. However, Roach, a Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, hasdone the nearly impossible and written a book as informative andrespectful as it is irreverent and witty. From her opening lines ("Theway I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruiseship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back"), it is clear thatshe's taking a unique approach to issues surrounding death. Roach delvesinto the many productive uses to which cadavers have been put, frommedical experimentation to applications in transportation safetyresearch (in a chapter archly called "Dead Man Driving") to work byforensic scientists quantifying rates of decay under a wide array ofbizarre circumstances. There are also chapters on cannibalism, includingan aside on dumplings allegedly filled with human remains from aChinese crematorium, methods of disposal (burial, cremation, composting)and "beating-heart" cadavers used in organ transplants. Roach has afabulous eye and a wonderful voice as she describes such macabresituations as a plastic surgery seminar with doctors practicingface-lifts on decapitated human heads and her trip to China in search ofthe cannibalistic dumpling makers. Even Roach's digressions andfootnotes are captivating, helping to make the book impossible to putdown.