Book Review: Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003)

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers is very educational and frequently funny, because author Mary Roach is curious, odd (in a good way!), and unafraid to broach icky topics. While morbid, Stiff reveals a whole new world, and might perhaps inspire readers to contemplate the possibility of contributing to a field--or various fields!--after one's passing.

In a nutshell, the book is about some of the various ways cadavers, or select bits of them, are used in different areas, such as surgery practice, crash impact testing, crime investigations, and so on. Each chapter is flavored with Roach's personal reflections and observations, revealing a fascination not with the macabre, but in the utility of, shall we say, expired biological masses with no consciousness. Roach's methodology, which consists of guided visits to the sites using cadavers, affords her firsthand glimpses (and smells, alas) of the many ways in which the formerly alive continue to serve a purpose.

There is a plethora of new information to be found in this work, the most useful to me being how exactly getting hit with a car works (the fender hits your ankle, the hood hits your hip, and you cartwheel into the windshield). Roach also describes the once-lucrative business of grave robbing, back in the days when physicians and medical schools had...less rigorous ethical standards. In addition, she details certain gruesome experiments in the past century, involving transplanting limbs and heads, performed in the name of discovery. And there's a chapter on crucifixion studies, too (?!).

Through it all, the author remains respectful about the subject matter, and declares herself willing to be used to advance science in her afterlife. Overall, Stiff is, like all of Roach's other books, immensely entertaining and edifying, and is a page-turner.

TL;DR: Interesting, funny, and sometimes horrifying. Recommended!

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Book Review: Four Fish: the Future of the Last Wild Food (2010)

Paul Greenberg's Four Fish: the Future of the Last Wild Food is a good introduction to aquaculture and the industrial fishing practices that bring us our sashimi and scrod. Greenberg, a fishing enthusiast from an early age, contends that four fish--salmon, bass, cod, and tuna--have come to dominate our dinner plates. He devotes a chapter to each fish, vividly describing their physical and physiological characteristics, their range and habits, as well as the evolution of humanity's methods for catching them in increasingly larger numbers.

In this way, Greenberg underlines the inherent lack of sustainability in our collective fishing processes. Overfishing has had such a devastating impact on the focus populations, and Greenberg advocates for government regulation, showing that fish numbers tend to recover when official intervention gives them breathing room. His dismissal of individual consumer choice as a significant influence on the fishing industry is an interesting departure from other food books that I've read. He does have a point--if governments prevented overfished families from reaching the market in the first place, then ordinary folks wouldn't have to vote with their wallet, as it were. Greenberg thinks subsidizing artisanal fishing is the way to go.

Whether or not that has a snowball's chance in hell of happening, I learned a lot from this book! For instance, I found out that the larval stage has astronomically high mortality rates, so the fish we currently eat are those bred to survive that stage (if farmed), or are tough and/or lucky (if wild). I also had no idea that it takes so much fish feed to grow a fish. I was blissfully ignorant about how Chile, Norway, Alaska, and other places supply our sources of omega-3 fatty acids. I had zero clue that party boats for fishing were a thing. Finally, until I saw the cover of this book, I did not know what the eponymous four fish looked like in their non-filleted form. The more you know!

In conclusion, Four Fish is an informative, enjoyable read that practically radiates with the author's love and enthusiasm for, and deep connection to, the subject matter. The prose is clear, the ideas flow well, and best of all, I came away feeling that there are viable solutions to overfishing...if only we could get our act together, which we occasionally do!

TL;DR: A fun, educational book!

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This post brought to you by US midterm elections!

Summer Book Recommendations

I went on a reading binge after Juniorette was born--what else to do during all those night wake-ups in the first six weeks? Below are the four best books of the bunch, in my opinion:

1. Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats (Maryn McKenna, 2017)
McKenna traces the rise of chicken as the main protein in the United States, a rise inextricably linked to heavy antibiotic use. She describes how chickens lost their diversity and essentially became standardized blocks of tofu with feathers, legs, and beaks. She examines industrial practices as well as the alternative movements that have sprung up in response to rising consumer awareness of the health costs of so-called "superbugs." Her documentation of the bacterial threat is chilling. However, Big Chicken does end on a positive note, unlike, say, Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer. Incidentally, I haven't bought chicken since reading this book.

2. Molly's Game: The True Story of the 26-Year-Old Woman Behind the Most Exclusive, High-Stakes Underground Poker Game in the World (Molly Bloom, 2014)
Molly's Game is a memoir about how former Olympic skiier Molly Bloom ended up running an invite-only, high-stakes poker game for the moneyed dudes of LA and New York. She includes observations about the mindset of poker players, presents the drastic lifestyle changes her new role afforded, and describes her evolving strategy for staying on top of the game. Gotta respect the hustle! Now a movie starring Jessica Chastain.

3. The Secret Life of Fat: the Science Behind the Body's Least Understood Organ and What It Means For You (Sylvia Tara, PhD, 2016)
The author, a biochemist, makes a compelling case for loving your fat by understanding it as an organ critical to your body's performance. She uses examples of fat-related diseases to emphasize that having too little or too much can cause havoc on our health. For those hoping for some tips on how to lose weight, alas, it's the same old (yet effective!) advice: diet and exercise. Still, this book made me appreciate the role that fat plays in my health, and I'm now less judge-y of myself and others who have muffin tops. Just means there's more to love!

4. Tell Me Where It Hurts: A Day of Humor, Healing and Hope in My Life As an Animal Surgeon (Dr. Nick Trout, 2008)
Dr. Trout is a British animal surgeon who has plenty of experience under his belt. He's passionate about his patients, and his empathy extends to their human companions. He structures the book around one day to showcase both the clinical issues he has to deal with--starting in the wee hours of the morning!--as well as the other challenges of the profession, such as cost considerations for owners, how to communicate with patients who can't talk, teaching and mentorship, etc. I would bring my pet to Dr. Trout based on this book, because his love for animals shines through. I mean, if I had a pet.

TL;DR: All four books are great summer reads to expand your mind!

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This post brought to you by swimming!

Book Review: The Demon-Haunted World (1995)

Astrophysicist Carl Sagan wrote this book before he died of pneumonia in '96, after a long struggle against myelodysplasia. Sagan is credited with popularizing science -- remember Contact, the 1997 film starring Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey? That was based on a 1985 novel written by Sagan. He's a cool nerd.

The Demon-Haunted World reminds readers of the hysterics our species is capable of when we're not using our critical thinking skillz. Sagan writes about UFO mania (X-Files wooo!), faith healing, witch hunts, and about this one guy who claimed to channel a thousand-year-old spirit and was a sensation in Australia -- and then he admitted he had made it all up -- and then people wrote to him saying, "We believe in you." LOL

This book comes before our internet age, so I find it a little quaint, especially since he advocates making information readily available and I just used Wikipedia about ten times to write the first paragraph of this post. But of course, the point is not just to regurgitate facts -- Sagan earnestly believed that human societies have to promote science learning to improve the human condition, and science learning means questioning everything. Be skeptical!, he urges readers. Think it through! But if even if you have all the evidence and you know you're right, don't be a jerk about it!

Sagan says: learn science (the earlier the better), or at least cultivate a scientific (read: evidence hoor) mind.

I have zero talent in anything above the science basics, which is a shame because otherwise I'd be a veterinarian right now and my real life-based cat comics would be supplemented with dog, hamster, fish, ferret, bird, and who-knows-what-else comics. I might even have drawn humorous strips of me learning the veterinary ropes on cows and horses and pigs and chickens. Or alligators? But, alas.

Where was I? Oh yes, The Demon-Haunted World. It's a good read because of its instructive examples, although he does go on for too long about alien abductions. Also, ironically--for all his arguments against the notion that science is too hard, Sagan completely lost me when he explained Maxwell's equations demonstrating the electromagnetic field. Heck, I would've skipped them even if the symbols had shown up correctly on my Kindle. SCIENCE IS HARD OKAY

But yes, science is a candle in the dark. The wax is solidified ethics, social responsibility, and moral decency;  the wick is intellectual curiosity and talent; and the flame is knowledge. 

Everything is better with sparkles. Just ask vampires.

(And Carl Sagan turns over in his grave...)

Happy Friday!

Nothing to Envy (2009)

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea is a hair-raising peek into the sorrows of North Korea. To write this book, Barbara Demick, Beijiing bureau chief of the L.A. Times, spent five years in Seoul and also did a controlled visit to North Korea. She tells the stories of a handful of North Korean defectors. I have handily summarized below their stories and relevant major themes:

Person	Theme
Mi-ran: Born to a family classified in the lowest rung of society because of her father's South Korean background. Was Jun-sang's girl for many, many years. Became elementary school teacher despite bad family background. Watched students die of starvation during the famine of the mid-nineties. Defected with family in 1998.	The weight of history: After Japan's defeat in WWII, the US decreed the 38th parallel as the dividing line between the communist North Korea and capitalist South Korea. In 1950, North Korea invaded, leading to the Korean War. Ordinary citizens either fled north or south, or were simply swept in a direction. South Korean prisoners of war in North Korea were eventually granted citizenship, but bore the stigma of "tainted blood." This blood was thought to last for three generations.
Jun-sang: Eldest son of wealthy Koreans from Japan. Captivated by Mi-ran's looks at first sight. Took three years to hold her hand, and then six years to kiss her on the cheek. Lived privileged life as university student and later as researcher. Secretly watched South Korean television using a rigged TV. Defected after discovering that Mi-ran had fled.	All your technology are belong to us: The North Korean state disables all but state channels on all televisions and radio. North Koreans citizens are only exposed to public announcements, "films," and "news" manufactured by the communist party. Tragically, no Jersey Shore for North Korea.
Dr. Kim: Tiny perfectionist. Grateful to the state for her medical education. Remained utterly loyal to the party until she snooped in the hospital director's files and discovered that she was on a watch list. Defected after a party official came to warn her not to.	It's hard to be a doctor: North Korean doctors are expected to be selfless. They're also supposed to make their own medicines. They go in teams to the mountains to collect herbs. Due to the lack of supplies after the breakdown of other communist governments, North Korean doctors turned to rough innovations to treat patients, e.g. beer bottles as IV drips. When she escaped, Dr. Kim made the appalling discovery that dogs in China eat better than doctors in North Korea.
Mrs. Song: The ideal citizen. Card-carrying communist housewife who began to sell food items on the black market after her husband's and son's deaths. Defected by accident -- daughter who ran away arranged for her to "visit" China, and then fly to South Korea for a reunion.	Communism epic fail: North Korea failed its citizens, who enjoyed a higher standard of living in the sixties and seventies thanks to support from Soviet bloc countries. The worldwide collapse of communism and the famine devastated the economy. In the worst days, there was no electricity, no food rations, no new clothes, and transportation was sporadic and slow. Millions died, many on the streets. The lucky ones got away, either through family connections, or by sheer determination.
Hyuck: Left in orphanage at age 11. Survived on own wits during the famine. Learned to cross river into China and buy Chinese goods. Set up profitable business selling on the black market until caught and sent to labor camp at age 16. Endured the hunger, beatings, hard labor, crowded sleeping spaces, and deaths during the night. Released in 2000. Defected to South Korea in 2001.	The cost of survival: The ones who survived the famine were precisely those who ignored rules of the state (e.g. no private enterprises like selling goods) and codes of morality (e.g. no stealing). Hyuck didn't exactly make out like a bandit -- when he first got to South Korea, his head was too big for his body, because malnutrition stunted his limbs and torso. He spent his first couple of years in South Korea scowling at everyone who tried to interact with him. It took him a while to realize that he would be better off with friends, now that he doesn't have to fight for survival.

The title Nothing to Envy comes from a North Korean song about having "nothing to envy in the world." The irony in this case is not funny. I hope to God something happens to get the crazies out. South Koreans, by the way, are taught that they should want reunification, but they're aware that absorbing millions of their northern brethren will be difficult, to say the least. Their experts are churning away and calculating how much it would cost to clothe, feed, and support an influx of refugees (North Korean defectors get an allowance of about $20,000 to start their new lives. First, they're interrogated to ensure they're not double agents.)

There aren't many North Korean defectors at the moment. Less than 3,000 were documented in 2009. China is kind of a bad cop here; it considers North Koreans illegal economic immigrants and boots them right back. Meanwhile, Mongolia and Thailand will repatriate North Koreans to South Korea, so defectors who head to those countries surrender themselves almost immediately. De Pilipins is a transit point from China, although apparently some North Koreans blend in with our fast-growing South Korean population.

Mostly what this book has taught me is that I've got it good. North Korea may be an outlier, but suffering is never in short supply in our world. I've got a roof over my head, enough to eat, and only one extremely tiny mouth to feed. THANK YOU LORD.

Joguk Tong-il!!! (South-North Reunification!!!)

Book review: Adrift (1986)

Adrift is the true story of Steve Callahan's survival in the open ocean for 76 days. The book is gripping, emotional, and will shame you for being a total wuss when compared to the author. Callahan is hurled overboard from his boat one stormy night, and manages to get into his rubber life raft with crucial equipment that allow him to last more than two months with no land in sight. His body consumes his muscles; sharks circle menacingly; his tools fail and require repair or constant tending; open sores erupt on his skin; basically, it's a bloody nghtmare. Fortunately, he's ultimately saved by two things: his resilience and survival skills, and luck/grace. In particular, the dorados that accompany him provide food and a humbling sense of gratitude.

This book is for sailors and seafarers and people who appreciate people who don't suck. Boyfriend, who loves him some sailing, is definitely gonna have to read this.

Thanks to Papa for sending the book our way!