Alberti’s intriguing study traces the changing images of the spine, skin, heart, and brain over time, and asks, in this era of medical specialization, if we can see ourselves as more than the sum of our parts. Yet each part tells a distinct story of what it means to be human, and Alberti explores the physical experience of embodiment, the social uses of the body, and the metaphorical senses of “gut feelings.” Our relationships to the heart and brain are especially complex; both have been considered the seat of the soul, and heart transplants still prompt uneasiness about what happens to the donor’s feelings, while brain transplantation is nearly unthinkable.