Wicked Bugs Audiobook By Amy Stewart cover art

Wicked Bugs

The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s Army and Other Diabolical Insects

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Wicked Bugs

By: Amy Stewart
Narrated by: Coleen Marlo
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In this darkly comical look at the sinister side of our relationship with the natural world, Stewart has tracked down over one hundred of our worst entomological foes - creatures that infest, infect, and generally wreak havoc on human affairs. From the world's most painful hornet, to the flies that transmit deadly diseases, to millipedes that stop traffic, to the Japanese beetles munching on your roses, Wicked Bugs delves into the extraordinary powers of many-legged creatures.

With wit, style, and exacting research, Stewart has uncovered the most terrifying and titillating stories of bugs gone wild. It's an A to Z of insect enemies, interspersed with sections that explore bugs with kinky sex lives, creatures lurking in the cupboard, militant ants, and phobias that feed our (sometimes) irrational responses to bugs.

Wicked Bugs is a fascinating mixture of history, science, murder, and intrigue that begins - but doesn't end - in your own backyard.

©2011 Amy Stewart (P)2011 Tantor Biological Sciences Environment Outdoors & Nature Science Animals Agricultural & Food Sciences

Critic reviews

"Stewart amusingly but analytically profiles the baddest bugs around in quick but attention-grabbing snapshots of little creatures that pack a lot of punch." ( Booklist)
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The content was gross and morbidly fascinating. The short essay-like chapters lent itself well to the audio format.

Fascinating and disgusting

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I am a long time audible user. I was looking forward to much more from this title. Since I have an interest in entomology, it serves as a distraction. But for the regular listener, I think they will get bored fairly quickly between the interesting tidbits of historical excitement offered. I seriously thought that the narration was by a digitized computer voice when I first hear it--very monotone. The voice would probably be okay for a PBS documentary which used it only in snippets, but does not add anything to a full length book.

"good" only for insect enthusiasts

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Wonderful stories and details. I enjoyed learning about these amazing creatures that share the world with us.

Very interesting

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I find the subject matter of this book fascinating and was looking forward to a good creepy bug book to haunt me for a bit. Unfortunately, it missed the mark two ways - 1) Not enough scientific detail - the descriptions of the insects and their behaviors were too brief. Fewer insects with more detail on each would've been better. 2) Not enough anecdotal or cultural references to make listening fun for more than a couple of hours. If there had been more "fun" stuff, I wouldn't have noticed the lack of educational content.

Although I was disappointed, I'm giving this selection 3 stars overall because I did enjoy sections of it, and it kept me interested enough to listen all the way through.

Not enough....

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I kept waiting for the 'meat' in this book -- it is not in depth enough and written more as a coffee table book -- also the author should hire a better reader for her material.

All fluff no meat

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