Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences

by Mark Siddall, Megan Gavin (Illustrator)

it's a poisonous world—and this is the ultimate guide to surviving nature at her most toxic! Journeying from the plains of the outback to the jungles of Madagascar, Dr. Mark Siddall, curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History, delves into earth's deadliest and most sinister creatures. Seventy-five wittily written, engaging, and illustrated entries cover things that sting, that bite, and that you shouldn't touch or eat. Siddall provides fascinating insight into these species and their sometimes lethal, occasionally beneficial poisons.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Nature, Biology

192 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2013

Reviews

[Nostalgia Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the style of  Wicked Bugs and  Wicked Plants , Siddall's book focuses short vignettes on a variety of toxic (the more accurate term) animals, bugs, and invertebrates. Each entry starts off with a story about either the author's experiences with the critter in question or an historical anecdote about people's encounters with the critter (some famous explorers, others just everyday people), then melds it into a lesson about the critter's toxic defense mechanisms.

I did learn some stuff from this, but the style was not nearly as casual as I thought it would be. A mixture of forced alliterations, a narrative that jumps around and never really states any facts directly, and a reliance on many undefined scientific terms made this more of a scholarly-casual read, and one that really did less informing than the twice as short Wicked entries did. Although I didn't find the scientific vocabulary to overwhelming, the way it was incorporated into the haphazard presentation of information just made the entries more grating than they should have been. There were also a few entries that mentioned how the Red Queen hypothesis played into the critter's overly toxic defenses--but it wasn't until the third entry that mentioned this that actually defined the hypothesis. Siddall is the Curator of Invertebrate Zoology at the American Museum of Natural History (which held a Poison exhibition a few years ago, with which this book semi-correlates) and it definitely shows when he's writing about toxic invertebrates. There are even more assumed facts when discussing how the toxins work and no brief parenthetical providing a layman's definition or clarification of the process. It's definitely recommended that you have a decent interest in and remembrance of high school zoology.

All this isn't to say that I didn't enjoy this book--it was a quick and informative read, and one I'll definitely flip through again--but it just wasn't what I was expecting.

(Cross posted on

[elstaffe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the "Poison" exhibit at the AMNH, so I was excited to read this book. I wasn't always a huge fan of the writing style (too much forced-feeling alliteration, not always organized essays) or voice, but I did ultimately end up enjoying the book. I definitely learned a lot of things I hadn't known before about a subject I have mostly only encountered in murder mysteries, and there were some great instances of understated humor. I also remembered/re-learned that the people who assign scientific genus and species (whether taxonomists or not) are very special people.

And everything else aside, this was a really pretty book. It had great hand-feel, was a good size, easy to carry around and physically read...I know this sounds weird and sarcastic, but it is not. I was honestly a big fan of the physical book construction, which is not something I normally notice. So...something to consider? Maybe? I'm sorry, this is probably not very helpful to anyone else. Oh well.

[Roger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poison is an adorable little book, and features a semi-comprehensive and illustrated review of poisonous animals. Believe it or not, this was very entertaining. I had been reading this at the rate of one chapter a night but insomnia and an unwillingness to start a new book prompted me to finish the last half in one fell swoop.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learned stuff. Mostly made me want to stay inside.

[Raluca Daniela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very beautiful, tiny book with lovely ink illustrations of poisonous and venomous animals. Unfortunately, it is quite weak and disorganized in the information department.

There is a short introduction in the beginning explaining what toxins are and the difference between poison and venom - however the entries themselves contained terms that a person not versed in this domain would find difficult to understand. I only discovered there is a small explanation of terms at the end of the volume after I'd read it completely. I wish the introduction explained the types of toxins and how they act in more detailed form from the very beginning - that would have made reading the subsequent entries easier and more pleasant.

As for the descriptions of animals themselves - most of the pages were filled with anecdotes and subtle humor, with a bunch of science terms thrown out. I guess I had expected the overall tone of the book to be a bit more scientific and detailed, maybe with fewer entries, but more compelling data.

Overall, I would still recommend it to someone interested in the subject.

[Tori · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun look into the world of poisonous creatures, making me glad I live in the UK 😂
With a few pages of science, anecdotes and puns for each creature (or sometimes group of animals) it's not quite a Coffee Table book.
It was interesting but I often found that the prose was a bit scattered, and not massively in depth. It also often reads as lists of toxins which to the layman probably reading this book, feels like hard work.
Again not quite coffee table worthy... it's a pretty book, but the illustrations inside are few and far between. Not always representing every animal mentioned.

If I was American it would definitely make me want to visit the AMNH!

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

spooky booktober #3

the info is alright, but I found the writing style very hard. the alliteration and pretentious indirectness should have been edited out. it's one thing to do it for the chapter titles (quality material) but it gets tedious to read an entire book of someone trying to be clever. some of his jokes are actually funny but overall it didn't work for me.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful, quick read for here at the end of 2018. I learned a few things such as the role of bioaccumulation in poisonous frogs, bird (just the one that they know about as of now), and the like. I'm still not going to eat fugu, but now it's because it sounds rather bland.

There were some illustrations but if course I wanted more and better labeling. 3.5 stars

[Lynnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written though the author obviously tries (too?) hard at some places. But he’s funny, obviously well-read and well-traveled on the topic, and as a botanical toxins fanatic, I loved exploring the animal kingdom’s toxins in such a consumable book.

[Erica C · Rating 3 out of 5]

Informative while being both meandering and condescending without actually being all that informative if you don't have a decent base knowledge of the subject matter (which I do not).

I feel like it's rare to read a book and instantly, clearly know that the author has an ego. But when the foreword spends time shaming the style of other reference books and the entries focus as much on personal anecdotes as they do telling you facts about animals or the venoms/poisons they possess, its a little grating. Add on needless alliteration and forced usage of large words for the sake of using large words and the science gets a little lost.

3.5 because although I would have liked more from this book, it was an informative and quick read.

[Stan · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first I was going to give a 3 or 4 stars, but the book is extremely enjoyable. It deserves a top rating! It's very informative in almost too scientific a manner. The author has a large amount of personal, historical and antidotal experiences to relate. But the reading can be both enhanced and complicated by the obtuse humor and sometimes disjointed sentence structure. He starts with one species, and sometime looses you with a couple more before you realize he is back to the first one. It's kinda like Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory" writing an essay!

[twilightsprincess · Rating 3 out of 5]

本から情報はとても良くて絵はきれいだけど絵にカラーはもっといいと思う！
The information in this book is really good but the pictures I feel should be in color! I get the artistic rendering, but when color is sometimes so important in identifying the creatures, I think it should've had that. Also, I liked the way the author relayed his information, but at times I felt lost and didn't understand what he was talking about. When trying to relay information, especially to people who know nothing about animals, its best to also assume no one knows anything

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book ever since I stumbled upon it while searching for a different book at my local library. The small size and chic black hardcover caught my eye. Unfortunately, I didn’t care much for the writing style. The book/ essays all in all were not bad. It’s a quick interesting read.

[Natalie Cranberry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book to be hugely informative. While it can sometimes be a little wordy for the subject matter, over all it is a pleasant read.

It is an excellent resource option and is a nice chapter by chapter read that is perfect for cars, purses, and airplanes.

[dot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice companion to the long-over Power of Poison exhibit at the AMNH. I did see the exhibit—loved it—in 2014, and I picked up this book when exiting through the gift shop. I would have preferred to read it in 2014, but life happens, you know?

[puripuri · Rating 3 out of 5]

後記寫到作者是策展時以此書來代替十大有毒動物之類的評選，也就很能說明為什麼這本書看下來更像是 pamphlet 而不是正正經經的科普書籍了⋯⋯

全書��較表面和淺顯地介紹了一下三十來種有毒生物，記錄一下印象比較深刻的內容： 一是從鼩鼱到悍婦之 shrew 的詞義演變（完全跟書的主題沒關係了xD）； 二是在淺海走路要拖著腳步走，否則踏上魟魚或海膽或沙蠶的毒刺就大鑊嘢； 三是海龜之所以經常被塑料袋（尤其是亮藍色的塑料袋）纏死或撐死，是因為藍塑料袋像極了海龜心目中的美食僧帽水母⋯⋯🥺

[Ashlea Marshall · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cool illustrations. Interesting facts. I wish there had been more about each of the creatures actually listed. Several of the entries included more anecdotes or information about related creatures than the one listed.

[Kenneth McMahon · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative and quick read, but I wasn't a fan of the author's writing style at all.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I learned some interesting stuff, but the book is pretty poorly written.

[Bianca · Rating 4 out of 5]

The vocabulary was challenging and the illustrations could've been better but overall a good primer, quick read

[tai · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting little book, but at times I found the author’s choice of words so pretentious that they were disorienting.

[Christina · Rating 2 out of 5]

This guy should not write more books. He spent so much more time telling random stories than he did about the actual poisonous creatures

[Violet Patterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent research book for writers, but also just useful knowledge because it provides a lot of real-world creatures to look out for!

[Jude Danger · Rating 5 out of 5]

mmmm yummy

[Betty-Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and informative.

[Robert Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

While far from the most detailed or scientific book dealing with toxins and how they are delivered, Poison: Sinister Species with Deadly Consequences is well-written in plain English. For those interested (such as me)the scientific names of the species discussed are given, but not in a way to frustrate those not concerned with Taxonomy. It was a pleasure to read a work where someone actually understood and stated the differences between a toxin, a poison, and a venom. While the book didn't downplay the dangers the animals involved represented, it didn't exaggerate them, and went to great lengths to dispel some of the myths surrounding venomous and poisonous species. It is the best non-technical book on the subject I have encountered, and well worth reading by anyone with even a casual interest in the area.

[Britt, Book Habitue · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the sections were definitely better than others... some were totally rambly and confusing. Some were a little too "having fun with wordplay" at the expense of coherency.
(Though the phrase "erroneously erogenous coital conjecture" is pretty darn amusing.)
A little more background on the author and how/when/why he put together the book would have been nice at the beginning instead of buried in the end.
Overall, some of it made me nuts, some of it was creepy, and some of it was really interesting.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

A quick, content filled book with tons of information on the deadliest of the creepy crawlies. Thought some of the descriptions were rather light and that others felt combined with other animals. I wasn't that impressed with the graphics. I guess my take is that if they are that deadly...wouldn't you use pictures or a combination of the illustrations and photos?

[JodiP · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a delightful, quick read that's deceptively light in tone. It packs in so much information. It's full of really geeky alliterations and bad puns that I really enjoyed. The line drawings are artful and beautiful.

[Hjorprimul · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is desperately trying to mimic 'Wicked Plants' and fails miserably. Often, the animals referenced will barely be mentioned, instead used as a segue into an anecdote of the author's life, a brief glimpse into history, or about another animal entirely.