Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Why you should make friends with the rat in your house

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

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My biggest problem with Fuzz is that the whole premise is kind of misleading; this is not really a book about animals breaking laws; it’s mentioned that elephants have killed people, rats and mice destroy agriculture (theft sort of) seagulls destroy the Easter flowers at St Peter’s in the Vatican, and deer cause a lot of traffic damage, but none of this seems to actually be the point. Fuzz is really a book about humans and animals not always getting along, basically there’s a lot […]

When animals attack

Fuzz by Mary Roach

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I’ve read a lot of books by Mary Roach, but I was unaware that Roach had published two new books since I’d last read anything by her. Somehow I’d missed both Grunt (2016) and Fuzz (2021) by Roach. I decided to remedy that and picked up Fuzz at the library. Even though it’s been years, I was hoping that I would still appreciate Roach’s unique investigatory writing style. Where her most memorable books involved big topics like: sex, death, and space, I wasn’t sure I would be as interested in: “when nature breaks […]

“We are irrational in our species-​specific devotions.”

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

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It’s been a few years since I read a Mary Roach book, which seems like a terrible oversight. I generally love Roach’s books, even when the topic isn’t quite my jam (looking at you, Grunt). Its pretty simple to determine why – Mary Roach is hysterically funny. Ever since my first endeavor with her writing when I read Packing for Mars in 2015, I’ve been lowkey in love with her writing style, and am aware that I try to keep my own writing similarly lighthearted […]

not exaaaaactly what it says on the tin, but a good time none the less!

Fuzz by Mary Roach

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Honestly, Mary Roach could write a book about the paperwork filing systems for an auto dealership (my truest nightmare) and I would still roll up my sleeves and give it a go. Luckily, the topic  of animal criminals is NOT my nightmare, so I was eagerly anticipating another romp with my gal, Mary! As usual, I listened to this one, and if you are interested in picking it up I recommend doing the same as well! I almost always prefer a read-by-the-author piece of non-fic […]

“The caterpillars were ordered to appear in court on the twenty-eighth of June, at a specified hour, where they would be assigned legal representation.”

Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach

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I was so happy when Mary Roach announced this book, because I have been missing her writing. I never read her last book, even though I tried and couldn’t get more than ten minutes in before waving the white flag, because reading about warfare and war and its consequences is something that I found actively unpleasant. And this book sounded so silly! And it’s about animals. I fucking love animals! Even the ones most people dislike, like rats and spiders and snakes. I anticipated laughter […]

As always, I’ll read all the non-fiction if it’s about science 🤓

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void by Mary Roach

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Hmm I really did like this one, although I will admit that there are some overlaps with Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers around utilizing cadavers to experiment with some of the rocket capabilities. One of the most interesting things I learnt in high school physics was the utter logistical impossibility of leaving planet Earth. We’ve got no other options, people, there is no Wall-E way to get us off this planet with enough supplies to keep us going. The fuel costs are exorbitant as is, […]



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