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All That Remains

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All That Remains

By: Sue Black
Narrated by: Sue Black
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About this listen

Random House presents the audiobook edition of All That Remains by Professor Sue Black, read by the author.

Sue Black confronts death every day. As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All that Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her.

Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue’s book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel. Our own death will remain a great unknown. But as an expert witness from the final frontier, Sue Black is the wisest, most reassuring, most compelling of guides.

‘Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense, with impeccable science lucidly explained, and with moral depths humanely navigated, so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow. I am genuinely glad I read this book.’ – Lee Child

‘Compelling, brave and extremely accessible... A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.’ – Rachel Joyce

©2018 Sue Black (P)2018 Random House Audiobooks
Crime Death & Dying Law Social Sciences Sociology Forensics Inspiring Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Scary Natural Disaster

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Critic reviews

One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn’t. I found it invigorating! (Andrew Marr)
Black’s utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is “as much about life as about death”. (PD Smith)
An engrossing memoir ... an affecting mix of the personal and professional. (Erica Wagner)
A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity ... Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with. (Rowan Williams)
For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul ... All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness, pre-fictionalized. Except, you know, really good. (Helen Rumbelow)
All stars
Most relevant
Educational and entertaining. I could listen to Sue Black forever, although sadly that isn’t possible as we will all die some day.

Entrancing

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I really have been recommending this book to everyone since reading it. It made me re-think death and science and so much more. Is it weird that I now kind of want to donate my body to a medical school?

Recommending this to everyone

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all I can say is thank you for such an entartaining read, absolutely loved it

brilliantly honest and real

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Loved this book. The content, the story, the facts and the warmth that comes from the author about her life and subject. Would recommend to anyone interested in the subject of life and death.

Fascinating and heartwarming read

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Fascinating, passionate, and refreshingly frank, Dr. Sue Black’s respect for the dead and complete dedication to her subject is palpable.

At once sobering, bittersweet, funny, and thought-provoking, <i>All That Remains</i> dissects a life and career as a world leader in forensic anthropology. From friendly cadavers called Henry, to private meetings with the prime minister: From crippling rat phobias, to the horrors of war crimes in Kosovo. Each moment is explored with poignant honesty and great sensitivity.

In the Audible version of <i>All That Remains</i>, Dr. Black herself narrates and her soft Scottish lilt and genuine connection with the text makes listening a real pleasure.

There’s something very intimate about listening to someone recount stories from their own life, and one feels by the end that you almost know the author. Hearing the smile in her voice when she tells an amusing or embarrassing story and the professional detachment and sensitivity with which she deals with the most harrowing of situations is a real privilege and for once, I’m truly glad that I had to choose the audiobook over the hardback.

For some, <i>All That Remains</i> may effect a re-examination of how they think about death, dying, and what comes after; It may even convince them to bequeath their own body to science.

For others, it may be Black’s examination of how we treat death as a society that draws them in. Her thoughts on how we treat the dying, what we do with them once they are gone, and the rights of the individual to decide how they meet death, are all told through Black’s own life experiences and anecdotes. Her comfort with the subject is clear in the way she moves seamlessly between quiet contemplation and a wry, irreverent humour that can’t help but bring a smile to your face.

In <i>All That Remains</i>, the open discussion of death processes and the incredible importance of forensic anthropology for science and criminal investigation is both comfortingly gentle and crisply pragmatic. Like the lady herself, Black’s writing seems to balance on the precarious line between the emotional heartbreak of loss, and the hopeful yet unwavering fortitude of hard science.

With a funny and uplifting final chapter reflecting on her own mortality, Black discusses how she wants her body to be used and how she feels about chronic illness and society’s obsession with extending human life. Truly a book for every body (pun entirely intended).

The verdict: 🥄🥄🥄🥄🥄

So much more than the bare bones

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