I'm a little surprised that this is the first Mary Roach book I've read. Roach has written a number of highly accessible books about the intersection of science and human civilization, typically focused on a specific aspect (such as Bonk, about human sexuality, and Stiff, about the disposition of human bodies after death). These should all appeal to me, and on the face of it I do find all of them interesting.
I expect our family vacation, where we drove across much of the country visiting national parks, drew me to this book about the ways humans and animals interact. This includes examinations into animal behavior, people who manage interactions between people and specific animals (such as elephants), and how the encroachment into animal habitats by the built environment makes these interactions more frequent (and more dangerous).
For the most part I enjoyed this very much, but got a little bored with it by the end. Not sure if I'd hit my limit of stories about man versus animal or if the later parts of the book were just less interesting. I did find it entertaining enough that I'll read another of her books. Eventually.
No comments:
Post a Comment