I Am Joe's Body

by J.D. Ratcliff

Book by Ratcliff, J. D.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Health, Medical

205 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1980

Reviews

[Bibliobites Veronica]

Pros: I learned a little something new in almost every chapter. Conversational tone is very readable. One drawing per chapter that might help some students with notebooking.
Cons: a fair amount of evolutionary content. The conversational tone can be a bit grating: why do all of Joe’s body parts have the same “voice?” This is not the book to learn anatomical vocabulary, if one was looking for that.
Overall good, but I probably won’t have my high schoolers read it.

[Zeno Izen]

Just bought this at a thrift store for a dollar. Would this be the literature famously quoted in Fight Club? "I am Jack's raging bile duct."

[W]

Reader's Digest's introduction to the organs of the human body,each organ telling its story in the first person.

[Angie Libert]

I am so thankful I was able to get an affordable print copy of this book. It was as good as I have heard others say it is. As someone who loves studying health and nutrition I was pleased to find that most of the authors advice was spot on. Not there was a lot of health or nutritional advice, but when there was it was all good. I don't resonate with the evolutionary references, but the book was so good I could overlook this.

[Jasveer Singh]

Most of the vital organs of human body tell their amazing story in first person. The author is no professional medic but the way he writes about the fascinating things about human body is very interesting.
The book appeared in Readers Digest in form of a series of articles during seventies.
Bill Bryson is rebirth of J.D. Ratcliff.

[Michelle]

Each body organ tells its own story in first person. This book intrigued me throughout my junior high and high school years, and was a big motivator for my medical career plans. Unfortunately, it gives the credit for the body's marvels to evolution, not to God, where they belong.

[Tammy]

What a great introduction to understanding the human body. Joe's organs and the female organs of his wife Jane speak in the first person. The 33 articles take the reader on an engaging tour of the human body, emphasizing its wonder with a thread of humor and recommendations. The style is literary and therefore engaging.

A couple of comments for curriculum planning
* The perspective is evolution-based. Since the references are here and there, rather than thrown in your face on every page, it is easy to overlook.
* Some organs are not included. That creates an opportunity for students to craft a first person story for the organs not included.
* The writing focuses on wonder from a design point of view. Pairing with "Fearfully and Wonderfully" by Dr. Paul Brand and Philip Yancey will make the creation point of view abundantly clear.
* Deeper material that focus on systems will be needed for a more rigorous understanding.

[Jinx]

I remember hearing the narrator from Fight Club read snippets of these during the film. The organ/body part is taking about ‘themselves’ and what they do/what they need to function/how they work.

It’s a a fantastic way to teach people about our organs. Really well written and educational.

[Sharon Wickiewicz]

I so enjoyed this book! Written in the first person, it is both enjoyable and informative, humourous, as well as being easy to understand. Having just finished it, I now want to watch Fight Club!!

[Adam Gagliardo]

There was plenty of interesting information and I learned more about quite a few body parts that I had never really thought much about. I enjoyed the voice used throughout the book, and the idea of hearing each body part in first person was cool. But the content did not go into too much depth. So it was a good surface level overview of the entire body and I still learned a lot, but don't expect anything too technical.

[Joe]

I recall reading these articles when they were originally published in Reader's Digest. This book is an excellent, if basic, introduction to the human body for the interested layman. It's a shame that the mass market paperback has gone extinct--there are no venues for books like this to be published anymore.

[Betsy]

I really enjoyed this book. Much more than I expected. Some evolutionary content which didn't seem necessary, but the big focus is on how the various body parts function today with some mention of common ailments and how to take care of that part of the body. Concise and engaging.

[Naomi]

I loved this approach to the wonders of anatomy.

[Robert Ellington]

Anatomy is fascinating to me, and I teach an Anatomy /Physiology class, so this was good reading for me!

[Gwen]

Read for school, but it's most definitely the most interesting book I've read for anatomy so far!