Strange Harvest: Organ Transplants, Denatured Bodies, and the Transformed Self

by Lesley A. Sharp

Strange Harvest illuminates the wondrous yet disquieting medical realm of organ transplantation by drawing on the voices of those most deeply transplant recipients, clinical specialists, and the surviving kin of deceased organ donors. In this rich and deeply engaging ethnographic study, anthropologist Lesley Sharp explores how these parties think about death, loss, and mourning, especially in light of medical taboos surrounding donor anonymity. As Sharp argues, new forms of embodied intimacy arise in response, and the riveting insights gleaned from her interviews, observations, and descriptions of donor memorials and other transplant events expose how patients and donor families make sense of the transfer of body parts from the dead to the living. For instance, all must grapple with complex yet contradictory clinical assertions of death as easily detectable and absolute; nevertheless, transplants are regularly celebrated as forms of rebirth, and donors as living on in others' bodies. New forms of sociality arise, recipients and donors' relatives may defy sanctions against communication, and through personal encounters strangers are transformed into kin. Sharp also considers current experimental research efforts to develop alternative sources for human parts, with prototypes ranging from genetically altered animals to sophisticated mechanical devices. These future trajectories generate intriguing responses among both scientists and transplant recipients as they consider how such alternatives might reshape established―yet unusual―forms of embodied intimacy.

Genres: Nonfiction, Medical, Anthropology

322 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[M. Benesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting, albeit occasionally upsetting read (at least to me, due to the situations of violent death described). I wrote a research paper which largely focused on the themes in this book, and it made me reconsider some of my own preconceptions.
Sharp is not trying to convince people that organ donation is bad, however, she proposes in this book that the way the US tries to talk about it is damaging and potentially dangerous. I think this book just made it abundantly clear that everyone needs to blatantly tell family whether they want their bodies to be donated or not. Sharp is successful in not using weighted language to demonize or support any opinions from medical professionals in her work, so this book provides an interesting insight into the controversies of organ donation.

[Katie]

This was fascinating as the wife of a recipient and gives all the details I wanted about the other side of procurement, donation, and transplant.
But I had to kind of speed through the end because I'm consuming too much death, grief, and suffering content and it's taking a toll on me.
I should go read something fluffy.

[Nate Hendrix · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only read about 50 pages and gave up. Very like a textbook

[Noel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating read, well documented and thoroughly researched. I have not delved into "ethnographies" before but this one had me immediately interested in that genre.

Proof of the pudding: Details in this book will shock and surprise you. I was always of the impression that absolute confidentiality prevailed when it came to organ donation. This is obviously not so. I am NOT SURE at all that the fictive kinships that develop as a result of donor relatives getting to know recipients, is at all a good idea.

Finally, I like the author's very succinct prose, rare enough in an academic.

[Marikoisonfire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not really someone who's all that interested in things medical, but this book is totally food for thought for those who are. And if you have any interest in death and the body and love and organs, this book strings them all together without too too much supah crazy theory to bog you down.

[Parisa Soraya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Opened up my understanding of organ transplants and the many different perceptions of the practice. Very interesting.

[Phil (Theophilus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book and I guarantee that you will never want to donate your organs ever again. The story of how insurance companies, hospitals and medical doctors profit Big Time on your donated organs.

[Minli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic ethnography on organ donation and how it affects the gifting and grieving process