Fuzz

When Nature Breaks the Law

By: Mary Roach

Narrated by: Mary Roach

One of Audible's Best of 2021

AudioFile Magazine's Best Audiobooks of 2021

An Instant New York Times Bestseller

#1 Los Angeles Times Bestseller

#1 Indie Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller

A Washington Post and Publishers Weekly Best Nonfiction Book of 2021

Longlisted for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction

Join "America’s funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.

What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.

Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque.

Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem - and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.

©2021 by Mary Roach. (P)2021 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

“Roach is an observant and witty writer with an eye for detail and a passion for facts. As it turns out, she is also a remarkably skilled narrator with a pleasant mid-range voice. She reads with verve, and her phrasing and pacing keep the text moving while enabling our laughter or stunned amazement. Roach also re-creates accents, conversations, and speech patterns like the best mimic. What a delightful and informative listen.” (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner)

"An idiosyncratic tour with Roach as the wisecracking, ever-probing guide... My favorite moments, ultimately, weren’t the funny ones, but those that reveal a bit of scientific poetry." (Vicki Constantine Croke, New York Times Book Review)

"Bestseller Roach sheds light on nature’s malefactors in this often funny, always provocative survey...Roach’s writing is wry, full of heart, and loaded with intriguing facts...This eminently entertaining outing is another winner from Roach." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Another excellent Mary Roach book!

Ms. Roach covers the topic of how to interact with wildlife from a legal perspective very thoroughly; and I mean thoroughly. Each new chapter found her in some other corner of the world talking to people in depth and I found myself impressed with the detail of her research. Despite the detail, what could be a pedantic textbook is instead a delightful look at how we interact with animals in our domain and the complicated feelings it provokes. Very enjoyable!

witty, unsurprising

Great for general audiences, and she is, as ever, a very engaging writer (and a good audiobook reader, which is never a guarantee when an author does their own recording!) If you're already reasonably knowledgable about the history of human-wildlife conflict, wildlife management, and invasive species remediation, especially if you work in the field, you won't find anything new in there, but it's a fun ride nonetheless. Roach is a witty writer and brings a great personal touch to the research.

The chapter about plants in the middle did feel tacked on, though, it did not fit with the other content. Human-plant conflict could easily be its own book, it's odd that she tried to cram those handful of examples into this one instead.

Funny, gross, and entertaining

The author's quirky curiosity comes through in this informative audio book. She not only investigates how animals go "rogue" when it's actually the humans who are invasive, but also follows tangents. Why is something called that? Who won't answer emailed inquiries? What ideas were tried without success? Also : I've never heard footnotes read with such dramatic delight!

great read

Great book for animal lovers and book clubs. Mary Roach is super funny! awesomeness, great work.

Love Mary Roach

I love Mary Roach’s wit, which makes the science she imparts that much more palatable. Another informative, entertaining listen!

Interesting information but...

This was a weird book. I normally love her books, but this one jumped around quite a bit. I skipped the chapter on the humane killing of stoats and was more than ready for the book to end by the time it actually ended. I also don't understand why she didn't include the footnotes during the book instead of at the very end: "Page 31 footnote..." She's a great author, but this just wasn't her best.

Smart research presented in an easily digestible way

This is probably the fifth or sixth book of hers I’ve read or listened to, and she remains a favorite author of mine. The research follows strings of curiosity but stays connected to factors that affect most people in everyday life. The humor is engaging but never feels corny or grating. The performance is engaging.

Good STEM book discussion material

Very well researched, and explained information about the pests that continue to vex mankind! Thank you Mary Roach!

As fascinating and funny as the others

I have read several of Mary Roach’s other books (physically with my eyeballs) and this one stands up with the others. It’s well-researched, well-written, and she can still make me laugh.
I would argue that she’s maybe not the best choice to read her own book, but I’ll read anything she’s written.

not sure what happened but I enjoyed it

I'm not really sure how to describe this book, what it is, what it's telling, but I can safely say I enjoyed it and I learned more than a thing or two along the way.