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Summary
Summary
"Creepy, beautiful, icky and amazing." --Penny Le Couteur, author of Napoleon's Button
Insects have been shaping our ecological world and plant life for over 400 million years. In fact, our world is essentially run by bugs--there are 1.4 billion for every human on the planet. In Bugged, journalist David MacNeal takes us on an off-beat scientific journey that weaves together history, travel, and culture in order to define our relationship with these mini-monsters.
MacNeal introduces a cast of bug-lovers--from a woman facilitating tarantula sex and an exterminator nursing bedbugs (on his own blood), to a kingpin of the black market insect trade and a "maggotologist"--who obsess over the crucial role insects play in our everyday lives.
Just like bugs, this book is global in its scope, diversity, and intrigue. Hands-on with pet beetles in Japan, releasing lab-raised mosquitoes in Brazil, beekeeping on a Greek island, or using urine and antlers as means of ancient pest control, MacNeal's quest appeals to the squeamish and brave alike. Demonstrating insects' amazingly complex mechanics, he strings together varied interactions we humans have with them, like extermination, epidemics, and biomimicry. And, when the journey comes to an end, MacNeal examines their commercial role in our world in an effort to help us ultimately cherish (and maybe even eat) bugs.
Author Notes
DAVID MACNEAL is a journalist exploring the fringes of science, technology and culture. His articles have appeared in Wired, Arts Technica, VICE, and other publications. Aside from geeking out over comic books, he bakes exquisite pies (especially blueberry) and drinks an array of whiskeys. Sometimes the glasses contain bugs. He currently lives in Denver.
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Science journalist MacNeal summons his geeky inner 10-year-old as he shares his unapologetic excitement about all things entomological, demonstrating the coolness of bugs as well as their cultural and utilitarian value to humankind. MacNeal also conducts a parade of fellow insect obsessives (some of whom admit to being "just a little bit odd to begin with"), who giddily discuss their favorite topics with openness and wonder. The insect obsessives include a taxidermist at a Manhattan lab who shares gutting techniques that are used on thousands of specimens, a researcher who studies ant-nest structure by filling the nests with orthodontist's plaster, and a forensic medical entomologist who gleans valuable information from the ways that maggots take over a dead body. MacNeal oozes enthusiasm in his hands-on explorations, whether he's touring Japan's Gunma Insect World, feeding bedbugs with his arm, buying a cockroach cyborg-conversion kit and keeping his failed result as a pet, or meeting the head of the Tokyo Bug-Eating Club for a tasting (and then following that up by trying to cook recipes from The Eat-a-Bug Cookbook for his relatives). MacNeal delivers a joy-filled dose of science, reminding readers that the strange and alien creatures in our midst are not to be feared, but celebrated. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
MacNeal brings boundless enthusiasm to this survey of the insect world, carrying readers along as he learns about ants, mosquitos, bed bugs, and more. The hook is the author's everyman voice. MacNeal doesn't know much beyond the basics of insect lore, so he is happy to ask all the questions of the experts that anyone would want to ask. The delightful surprise is that as he interviews the scientists on the job, the author gets down and dirty alongside them, detailing his own occasionally revolting experiences with creatures most readers would likely avoid at all costs (cockroaches!). There is a fair amount of history throughout the text, such as Walter Reed's research into curing mosquito-borne yellow fever, along with plenty of humorous situations. MacNeal is acutely aware that he is writing about something that most readers do not think enough about and is determined to keep their attention with whatever means necessary: crickets are cooked and eaten. In the midst of all the laughs, though, he imparts a great deal of solid science, making this an enjoyable and important immersion.--Mondor, Colleen Copyright 2017 Booklist
Library Journal Review
Freelance journalist MacNeal sets out to examine our relationship with insects and in the process discovers just why they are so important to us, exploring their many purposes (waste management, medicinal properties). Noteworthy are the sections on the future of insects (bugs' struggle to reproduce, ill-used pest control, and insects as nutrition). The chapters are well organized, drawing on books, articles, and interviews with amateur and professional entomologists. MacNeal has a humorous, conversational tone and incorporates delightfully irreverent anecdotes in footnotes. At times his descriptions are too effective: the chapter "First Responders," which looks at bugs that feed on decomposing bodies, is particularly nauseating. The author apologizes for his use of the not entirely accurate term bug and makes it clear that he isn't a trained expert. However, his inexperience works to his advantage as readers learn, and perhaps squirm, alongside MacNeal throughout his journey toward understanding these often underappreciated creatures. VERDICT Readers willing to consider creepy crawlies in a different light will glean much from this thoroughly enjoyable text.-Elissa Cooper, Helen Plum Memorial Lib., Lombard, IL © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| Introduction | p. 1 |
| 1 A Cabinet of Curiosity | p. 7 |
| 2 Buried Cities | p. 33 |
| 3 "Even Educated Fleas Do It" | p. 51 |
| 4 The On-Flying Things | p. 77 |
| 5 Vámonos Pest! | p. 105 |
| 6 First Responders | p. 135 |
| 7 You Just Squashed the Cure for Cancer | p. 155 |
| 8 Executives of Big Bug Biz | p. 173 |
| 9 Dining with Crickets | p. 199 |
| 10 Tracing the Collapse | p. 229 |
| Epilogue | p. 265 |
| Acknowledgments | p. 275 |
| Bibliography | p. 279 |
| Index | p. 299 |
