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Cannibalism
368 pages
A witty, eye-opening romp through the animal kingdom and human history that turns a profound taboo into a fascinating biological puzzle.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like taking a guided tour through a natural history museum with a brilliant, slightly twisted biologist who delights in making you squirm before blowing your mind. The pace is brisk and conversational, leaping from the bizarre mating rituals of spiders to the medicinal habits of European royalty with a wry, irreverent tone. Despite the inherently gruesome subject matter, the mood is less horror-show and more wide-eyed curiosity, replacing the ick factor with genuine awe at the strange mechanisms of survival. The prose is sharp, accessible, and surprisingly funny, ensuring the science goes down easy. It is an absolute delight for fans of quirky, macabre non-fiction who enjoy having their cultural taboos dismantled by cold, hard, fascinating facts.
- Mood
- curious
- macabre
- fascinating
- unsettling
- Tone
- wry
- inquisitive
- accessible
- irreverent
- scientific
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- cultural taboos · evolutionary adaptation · survival mechanisms · the intersection of biology and history
- The writing
- Conversational and witty, blending rigorous scientific explanation with dark humor and accessible anecdotes.
- The arc
- Begins with a natural squeamishness that quickly gives way to morbid fascination, culminating in a sobering reflection on human survival.
- Who it's for
- Readers who love quirky, slightly gross science writing and have a strong stomach for the macabre.
Content notes
- cannibalism
- graphic animal behavior
- medical gore
- death and dying
- violence
About the book
"Eating one's own kind is completely natural behavior in thousands of species, including humans. Throughout history we have engaged in cannibalism for reasons relating to famine, burial rites, and medicinal remedies. Cannibalism has been used as a form of terrorism but also as the ultimate expression of filial piety. With unexpected wit and a wealth of knowledge, Bill Schutt, a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History, takes us on a tour of the field, exploring exciting new avenues of research and investigating questions like why so many fish eat their offspring and some amphibians consume their mother's skin; why sexual cannibalism is an evolutionary advantage for certain spiders; why, until the end of the eighteenth century, British royalty regularly ate human body parts; how cannibalism may be linked to the extinction of Neanderthals; why microbes on sacramental bread may have led to Catholics' to persecute European Jews in the Middle Ages. Today, the subject of humans consuming one another has been relegated to the realm of horror movies, fiction, and the occasional psychopath, but be forewarned: As climate change progresses and humans see more famine, disease, and overcrowding, biological and cultural constraints may well disappear. These are the very factors that lead to outbreaks of cannibalism. As he examines these close encounters of the cannibal kind, Bill Schutt makes the ick-factor fascinating"--
Description from Open Library.
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