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Mother Nature Is Trying To Kill You: A Lively Tour Through The Dark Side Of The Natural World (2014)

by Dan Riskin(Favorite Author)

3.93 of 5 Votes: 5

ISBN

1476707545 (ISBN13: 9781476707549)

languge

English

genre

Humor

publisher

Touchstone

review 1: I agree with the reviewer who thought she was being talked down to in this book and that the examples are for the most part recycled and can be found cited elsewhere. (The last chapter is also a throw away in which he recants a major premise used in the first six chapters of the book.) The author has however written for television series on the subject and can be forgiven for targeting a much more general audience than is normal for the genre. His premise is still valid. Mother nature is not the nurturing, non-adversarial, earth goddess she is made out to be in some popular pseudo-natural histories currently believed by some. I did find his continual reference to his wife and child and his use of the term "meat robot" to be tedious though. These were subjects used to i... morellustrate points and fill out the book, however. That said, the author does have an enjoyable, irreverent and at times comedic writing style. You could waste time reading a worse book on the subject that was much less enjoyable.
review 2: Incredibly informative and incredibly gross. I loved Riskin's main argument: saying something is "natural" doesn't necessarily mean that it's wholesome and automatically best for human society. There is some really scary stuff out there in nature. I love animals, so I really liked learning some fascinating facts about different critters. However, it doesn't really make for great dinner conversation... less

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