I had forgotten how much I enjoy Mary Roach. Her new book, Replaceable You, was a fun romp through the world of replacement body parts. Well, I say “fun”, but I cringed my way through many chapters, especially the one about cataract surgery.
Roach has a really endearing combination of curiosity and self-depreciating humor. She’s not afraid to make herself look silly by asking very smart and accomplished people the most ridiculous questions you’ve ever secretly had about their work. That’s what makes her books so entertaining. She doesn’t approach her subjects with jaded skepticism or wide-eyed credulity, but with just the right mix of respect and questioning.
Replaceable You has a similar format to Roach’s other books, and other similar pop-sci works written by journalists. In each chapter, Roach highlights a specific body part (or class of parts) and the history, present, and potential future of replacing it. Everything from hair plugs to 3d printed hearts to prosthetic limbs. Along the way, she travels around the world talking to experts in the field: doctors, researchers, and sometimes the recipients of treatments. She tries to sleep in an iron lung, runs a race wearing an ostomy bag, and gets a hair transplant. And she asks so many questions.
This was not an easy book for me to read, as I am squeamish about a lot of body stuff. Complicating matters is that I was listening to the audio with my spouse, so I couldn’t just, y’know, skim the entire cataract chapter and anything else that mentioned eyeballs or got too gory.
This is probably also not a good book to read if you have any sort of medical anxiety, especially around infections or surgery. As someone who is in her 40s and knows her mostly good medical luck is bound to run out soon (I like to joke I still have all my original parts), I could do without thinking about the risks of anesthesia, intubation, replacement hip joints, etc.
That said, it’s pretty amazing considering all the tools we have to keep humans alive and try to give people a decent quality of life after serious burns, limb loss, or organ failure. Medical science is pretty cool. Gross, but cool.
CWs and TWs: As I told my friends, if you have an ick about any sort of body part, this book will trigger you at some point. There’s also discussions of ableism and animal experimentation.
Source and Format: I borrowed the audiobook from Seattle Public Library.
Reading Challenge Prompts
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): S.T.E.M. Powered. This book hits all of the elements of STEM! Science: it’s all about medical science. Technology: there’s a lot of technological advances discussed here. Engineering: there’s a certain amount of engineering too, especially when it comes to prosthetic limbs. Math: discussion of the golden ratio in relation to plastic surgery.
Reading Challenge Progress
Nook & Cranny (Card 1): 17 of 25, 1 bingo.
Nook & Cranny (Card 2): 20 of 25, 2 bingos.
Book Riot: 16 of 24.
Physical TBR: 8 of 12.
World of Whimm: 21 of 24, 6 bingos.
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