Mary Roach is the Deborah Vance of science writing ... you’re hooked, and for good reason. Roach has a sure sense of drama, and she crafts sentences that crackle and pop ... In some alternative universe, Mary Roach and Deborah Vance are show business’ hottest comic duo, headlining nightly at the Bellagio or the MGM Grand, packing them in with laugh-till-you-cry tales of bad bears and bad breakups, rogue leopards and rogue lovers. Until that day arrives, you can savor this excellent book.
Ms. Roach lets us ride in her pocket as she climbs into trucks with laconic wildlife officers, or kneels to puzzle out evidence at a training course on wildlife-attack forensics. She’s apparently fearless—who tries to order the deadly poison ricin online?—and always bemused. She’s Everywoman, gawping and giggling, then zeroing in on the heart of the matter with a satisfying summary—or a bemused shrug ... a high-concept, somewhat unruly, utterly fascinating book. Chapters about killer trees and beans, and one on pest control in the Vatican, may seem peripheral. But Ms. Roach’s narrative is wide-ranging, clambering down the taxonomic tree from bears and elephants, leopards and monkeys, to stoats and mice ... With a chilling smile and signature gallows humor, Ms. Roach reminds us who, in the end, remains the most dangerous animal of them all.
The author Mary Roach made her reputation for witty, quirky and sometimes gross science writing in a series of snappily titled books ... The book doesn’t come off as comprehensive, but it does make for an idiosyncratic tour with Roach as the wisecracking, ever-probing guide ... Roach delights in the disgusting details of science. For those of us with, ahem, a taste for scatological humor, she delivers the story of a gull in a crowded nesting area that managed to defecate directly into the mouth of a hooded student ... My favorite moments, ultimately, weren’t the funny ones, but those that reveal a bit of scientific poetry.
... fascinating ... Roach has long excelled at this kind of rabbit-hole journalism, taking offbeat, immersive dives into the unexplored depths of otherwise well-charted subjects (sex, death, and war, among them). She is an enthusiastic and serious reporter who harbors a boundless sense of wonder and a weakness for a good poop joke, of which Fuzz has many ... While Roach’s sense of the absurd remains sharp throughout her new book, Fuzz can be a sobering read ... Roach is not prone to despair, however. After traveling the globe and compiling a grim catalog of killings, felonious or not, the author ends Fuzz on a hopeful note.
This book is such a rich stew of anecdotes and lore that it’s best savored slowly, bit by bit. Roach doles out surprising true tales from her around-the-world survey of human-wildlife relations ... Roach also tackles deeply serious topics in Fuzz, such as the death and destruction caused by certain wandering elephants, or bears whose DNA needs to be traced in order to track down one who killed a person. But no matter the situation, Roach approaches it with contagious enthusiasm ... Fuzz will open readers’ eyes to a myriad of animal rights issues, and possibly change their attitudes about how to approach them.
The expert on quirky science writing doesn't disappoint ... Roach’s writing combines research with firsthand experience, plus tips for handling an unplanned encounter with a wild animal ... Her natural curiosity and wit pair well with her topics ... Like Roach’s previous best-selling pop science works, this book is unpretentious and honest about what she sees and what she learns along the way ... A must-read for wildlife enthusiasts, popular science readers, and anyone who has enjoyed Roach’s other books. Her occasionally awkward interactions with people and animals make for the engaging narrative style that Roach is famous for.
Roach writes splendidly about the often-surprising challenges inherent in coexisting with other animals in their natural habitats ... Intrepid, witty, and elucidating, best-selling Roach is an ongoing popular-science supernova.
In her latest book, Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law, Mary Roach puts the spotlight on these miscreants ... The book brims with Roach’s irreverent humor, which particularly shines when she experiences human-animal conflict firsthand ... But it’s not all fun and reindeer games. Roach highlights how much real pain comes from human-animal interactions ... Most chapters offer a blend of modern science and history, with Roach’s flair for spotting hidden absurdities ... as another entry in Roach’s canon of books, Fuzz stands tall (and hairy), educating as much as it entertains. But please: Just learn from her. Do not taste the rat bait.
... a quixotic and somewhat meandering journey of a book, but one powerfully propelled by the force of Roach’s unflinching fascination with the weird, the gross and the downright improbable. Some nonfiction writers like to blend into the background, like game hunters in a blind, waiting for their subjects to produce the perfect quote; Roach is just as likely to stumble into the frame to deliver one of her own ... There’s a wacky genius to these interjections, frequently made at her own expense and often amid some particularly gory set-dressing ... The effect is one of hapless relatability: author as bumbling travel companion, or as court jester, expertly capering to disguise her expertise ... Below the clever surface of her prose runs a preoccupation with human occupations ... a similar nearsightedness keeps the lens trained on individual characters while sometimes overlooking systemic problems. Climate change, for instance, makes only two appearances in the book, although nearly every problem she catalogues will be exacerbated by increasing instability in the relationships between humans, plants and animals. Roach is certainly aware of this, but you get the sense that it would be a bit of a buzzkill to point it out; even someone who can so adroitly crack a joke over a corpse may have some trouble with the big C...This emphasis on the human scale does deliver satisfying payoffs.
In fifteen cheerful, fast-paced, funny chapters, Roach looks at deaths, home invasions, traffic violations like jaywalking, and massive amounts of food theft committed by the various usual suspects: bears, raccoons, mice, deer, elephants, even cougars, and many kinds of birds ... Roach is above all an entertaining writer, so when she touches on such deeper issues, she touches on them lightly ... Fuzz doesn’t pretend to have definitive answers to such questions; this is far more a snapshot of the current situation than a roadmap to future solutions, if such future solutions are even possible. Two things are certain: Roach’s vast audience of fervent fans won’t be disappointed by this latest book.
... another great outing from Roach, whose explanations are clear and understandable and whose prose is warm, hilarious and often snarky. She continues to be a likable tour guide through some of the stranger or more unusual scientific scenes ... Informative, engaging, often weird and incredible, Fuzz is an entertaining geek-out on a specific topic that has such far-ranging impact. More than a science writer, Roach articulates the questions that fascinate and worry us and finds answers that delight us as we think about the world and our place in it.
Tracing the line between wildlife and the law, the acclaimed science writer examines how humans interact with the natural world ... Roach joyfully explores how human culture and wildlife, including plant life, have either found ways to coexist or are constantly at odds. Throughout, Roach highlights people who are genuinely passionate about the work, and she also includes suggestions for readers on how to deal ethically (and effectively) with their own wildlife issues, wherever they live. From the terrifying to the frustrating, a great starting point for understanding the animal world.
Bestseller Roach (Bonk) sheds light on nature’s malefactors in this often funny, always provocative survey of species ... Roach hopes that humans can come to embrace coexistence even with creatures seen as pests—as she does the rat living in her own home. Roach’s writing is wry, full of heart, and loaded with intriguing facts ... This eminently entertaining outing is another winner from Roach.
