Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law

Mary Roach (1959-) graduated from Wesleyan University with a degree in psychology, not journalism or a science field, as some may think based on her books. She began her writing career at the San Francisco Zoological Society, writing press releases and freelance articles for various publications, including National Geographic, Wired, Outside Magazine, and Vogue. She is known for her popular science writing, which is often infused with humor; however, being a science writer was not her ambition. She states that “science stories were always, consistently, the most interesting stories I was assigned to cover,” and that it’s “like being in continuing education classes all the time. You’re always learning something new” (Drummond, Katie. “Science Writer Mary Roach: ‘Everything I Learn Is Pretty Shocking and Weird.’” The Verge, 17 Apr. 2013). Her lack of a science background in some ways makes her a good interviewer, as she asks basic questions in order to get a grounding in the subject. Without needing to keep herself out of the story, as one might with journalism or scientific writing, Roach can remark on the ridiculous, ironic, disgusting, or odd in her findings—and her research exposes her to unusual experiences. For Fuzz, she attended a training on how to identify whether someone was mauled by a bear versus a cougar. For Stiff, she learned how bodies decompose and what happens to bodies that are cremated. For Gulp, she tasted whale skin and put her hand inside the stomach of a living cow. For Packing for Mars, she went on a parabolic flight to experience weightlessness. She goes into these experiences with the same kind of beginner’s mind that many of her readers might. That is one of the appeals of her writing: Readers can put themselves in her shoes and believe that she is asking some of the same questions they might.

Roach has written seven books that have made the New York Times bestseller list. Her first book, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, came out in 2003 and was selected as one of Entertainment Weekly’s best books of the year. Aside from Packing for Mars, her titles try to capture the essence of her subjects in one word that is at once amusing yet appropriate: Spook (about the afterlife), Bonk (about sex), Grunt (about preparing for war), Gulp (about digestion), and Fuzz. In 2012, she received the Harvard Secular Society’s Rushdie Award for lifetime achievement in Cultural Humanism. The society cited her introduction to Spook in her nomination, where she writes, “Flawed as it is, science remains the most solid god I’ve got. And so I’ve decided to turn to it, to see what it had to say […]” (“Author Mary Roach to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award.” Humanist Community Project at Harvard, 29 Mar. 2012). Roach has also received an Engineering Journalism Award for general interest writing from the American Engineering Society for an article about earthquake-proofing bamboo houses.