9 Mary Roach first editions are documented on this shelf, from Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers (2003) to Replaceable You: The Curious History of Bodily Parts and Repairs (2025) across 3 different publishers. Each linked guide gives the points of issue that separate a true first printing of that Mary Roach title from later printings and book-club copies — the publisher and year to expect, the number-line or edition-statement conventions, and the tells that show up in online listings.
Identification only, per the house rule: no prices and no appraisals here. Checking a Mary Roach copy in hand? Type the title into the First-Edition Checker or photograph the copyright page with Snap & Sort.
- Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers — 2003 · W. W. Norton & CompanyThe copyright page carries a full number line counting down to 1, identifying the first printing. ISBN 0-393-05093-9 (9780393050936); W. W. Norton, New York, 2003; red boards. The first-issue jacket retains its printed price on the flap (present, not clipped). The US Norton edition is the true first, preceding the UK (Viking) edition. Roach's first book and her first first-edition collecting target. No book-club issue of note; the usual confusion is with later printings whose number line does not reach 1 (dealers list explicit fifth-printing copies, for example). The full number line to 1 plus the unclipped printed-price jacket identify the first printing.
- Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife — 2005 · W. W. NortonW. W. Norton first printing (2005, ISBN 9780393059625) is identified by a complete number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; per Norton's convention there is no separately printed 'First Edition' statement, so the intact number line ending in 1 is the point. First-state boards are grey and black with the spine lettering in red; the first-issue dust jacket should retain its printed price on the front flap…. US true first (W. W. Norton, 2005). The UK edition was retitled 'Six Feet Over: Adventures in the Afterlife' (Canongate, 2007) and appeared two years later, so it does not compete for priority; the Norton is the unambiguous first. No prominent book-club edition; the trade Norton hardcover is the collected first.
- Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex — 2008 · W. W. NortonW. W. Norton first printing (2008, ISBN 9780393064643) is identified by a complete number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; per Norton's convention there is no separately printed 'First Edition' statement, so the intact number line ending in 1 is the point. The volume runs 319 pages and includes black-and-white photographs in the text. First-state boards are white and grey with the title stamped in…. US true first (W. W. Norton, 2008). No prominent book-club edition; the trade Norton hardcover is the collected first.
- Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void — 2010 · W. W. NortonW. W. Norton first printing (2010) is identified by a complete number line descending to 1 on the copyright page; consistent with Norton practice there is no separately printed 'First Edition' statement, so the full number line ending in 1 is the point. The book is an octavo of 334 pages in original boards; the spine is black with the lettering in orange and green. The dust jacket was designed by Keenan and…. US true first (W. W. Norton, 2010). No prominent book-club edition; the trade Norton hardcover is the collected first.
- Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal — 2013 · W. W. NortonFirst published by W. W. Norton, New York, in April 2013. Copyright page states 'First Edition' and carries the full Norton number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 (complete, with no digits removed). The hardcover is issued in a dust jacket bearing its printed price on the flap. US true first (W. W. Norton, New York, 2013). A UK edition followed under the Oneworld imprint. No prominent book-club edition; on later Norton printings the terminal 0 of the number line is replaced by a lower digit and 'First Edition' is dropped.
- My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places — 2013 · Trusted Media BrandsFirst edition so stated by Trusted Media Brands (the renamed Reader's Digest Association), trade paperback original, April 2013, ISBN 9781621450719. First collected gathering of Mary Roach's Reader's Digest 'My Planet' humor columns. Confirm 'First Edition' / first-printing designation on the copyright page. US trade paperback original and true first; a first-thus collection of previously serialized Reader's Digest columns. No prior hardcover. No book-club edition of note.
- Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War — 2016 · W. W. NortonW. W. Norton hardcover, 2016, ISBN 9780393245448. 'First Edition' is stated on the copyright page with the full Norton number line running 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 (complete, none removed). Bound in green cloth with silver titling stamped on the spine, in a priced dust jacket that should carry its printed price. US true first (W. W. Norton, New York, 2016, ISBN 9780393245448). No prominent book-club edition.
- Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law — 2021 · W. W. Norton'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with the full Norton number line running 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 (complete, none removed). Priced dust jacket on the hardcover. US true first (W. W. Norton, New York, 2021). No prominent book-club edition.
- Replaceable You: The Curious History of Bodily Parts and Repairs — 2025 · W. W. NortonCorrect title is 'Replaceable You: Adventures in Human Anatomy' (W. W. Norton, published September 16, 2025). Look for 'First Edition' stated on the copyright page with the full Norton number line 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 (complete, none removed) and a priced dust jacket. US true first (W. W. Norton, New York, 2025). No BCE.
More Nonfiction & Memoir shelves: Michael Faraday, Octavio Paz, Oliver Sacks, Paul Laurence Dunbar, Primo Levi, Rachel Carson.
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