The Cockroach Papers: A Compendium of History and Lore

by Richard Schweid

What has six legs, skulks around late at night, and likes to sniff out the hidden crevices, the dank corners, and the dark recesses? The cockroach, of course. The cockroach is a bug of great design. Most of its contemporaries from the Carboniferous period -- around 300 million B.C. -- are extinct, but cockroaches live on reproducing inside our walls and traveling the world as stowaways aboard ships. In The Cockroach Papers, readers learn more than they ever wanted to know about this nasty little pest. It features a mix of anecdotal material from people who have had memorable (mostly nightmarish) interactions with roaches and facts about the lives of roaches -- from where they live and how they mate to their much-awaited dying days.

Genres: Nonfiction, Nature, Science, Biology, Animals

266 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 1999

Reviews

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hold on, I know what you are thinking. Tim, you read a book on roaches. Cockroaches (as if we need to say that to avoid any confusion). For fun. And liked it.

I did! It is a good book! Very well written and yes, tells you more about cockroaches than you ever hoped, dreamed, or dared to know. Since I assume you are still reading this review, here a few tidbits:
- Of the about 5000 species of cockroach worldwide, only about 100 are associated with mankind.
- The ancient Romans called them lucifuga, for their habit of avoiding light.
- The first written use in the English language came from Captain John Smith of Pocahontas fame in 1624.
- The cockroach is often the Trickster figure in Caribbean folktales.
- Roaches sense approaching danger (such as a shoe) not by their antennae on their head but instad via a pair of feelers called the cerci, located on the backside near the rear of the insect, covered in hundreds of remarkably fine and sensitive hairs, each only 0.5 millimeters long and 0.005 millimeters wide.
- People have gone to emergency rooms when roaches became lodged in their ear, and roaches have been known to partially consume human fingernails, toenails, and skin.

Ok, yeah, sorry, the last factoid probably drove you away, unless your like that sort of thing. Seriously though, a good book, one that has a pretty even-handed approach to the subject (the author shows that it is possible) and unlike some of these one animal (or type of animal) natural history books, seems to focus both on the science and nature of the subject and the human history.

If you like natural history, even the natural history of what is behind the cabinets, under the fridge, or behind the dumpster at the local fast food place, then this is the book for you. If you don't like "bugs" even a little bit, well, probably not so much.

[Linda Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

原本以為這本書能讓讀者對蟑螂改觀，結果沒有，鉅細靡遺地描寫蟑螂生活，倒是達到我想要知己知彼的目的。

[Hol]

This was so fascinating I could not put it down. Actually, I put it down only to go make dinner--and naturally had a false roach sighting, an oblong lint ball near the laundry rack--then quickly finished it. The book includes memoir, science, history, and culture, all loosely braided together by the theme of cockroaches. I especially liked learning about the American cockroach in Southern African-American folklore, where it was a Trickster figure (the bug arrived on slave ships and is slyly adaptable and resourceful, besides being disruptive by the mere fact of its existence), and also about a Harvard professor who gives the author the unwanted gift of a Tupperware full of Madagascar hissing cockroaches (eek).

[Madi Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! To go from disgust to heartbreak in a matter of seconds…The last book that did that to me was Kafka’s “Metamorphosis”. I guess I have a thing for roaches.

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very accessible book about the niche topic of cockroaches. It touches upon contemporary research but only up until the books publication in 1999. It’s a concise read that doesn’t overstay its welcome!

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure where my copy of this is right now, but I enjoyed it enough that I'm going to buy another just in case. So what else should I say, that's recommendation enough, right?

Ok, it's all about cockroaches so maybe I'm biased. Still, you have to live with them...wouldn't you like to know why? Or what they are? Or how they work?

If you ever saw a white cockroach I think you should read this book.

[Sophie Dickins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic! A strange mix of scientific fact, folktales and biography that totally works. A unique and memorable testament to a creature that seems better designed than humans in a myriad ways.

[santhia · Rating 5 out of 5]

非常流畅舒服的阅读体验。作者叙事能力很强，故事很吸引人，把墨西哥边境的劳工环境、美国中下阶层孩童哮喘发病率、小酒馆打工时遇到的黑帮斗殴与蟑螂的存在无缝隙地联系起来，通过蟑螂却看到了更多层次的人类社会。开始只是为了了解蟑螂这个物种，但是似乎通过这扇门又通往了更多有趣的房间，看到了之前没有预料到的世界。

受益匪浅的博物学作品。作者本人的经历也很有意思，看起来不是科班出身的生物学家，却能写出这么细致的科普作品，也不是专业的社科人员，但能把不同地域的社会现实调查得十分清楚，并且融洽地引入了史料。出乎意料，让人期待。

另外不得不吐槽蟑螂这种逆天生物，正如作者所说的得到了神之眷顾，得天时地利，无所不能战无不胜。从前因为他的生命力顽强而对其退避三舍，经过进一步了解，虽然对其族群开挂般的技能更加敬畏，但畏惧大大于敬佩。那是一种面对完美劲敌无能为力无可抵抗的深深恐惧……我一直以为恐惧仅仅来自于未知，原来，它也可以来自更深的了解，真是一种新奇而又很想抗拒的情感体验呢……

[Damen Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

這是本有趣的小書。

記得在一本回顧iPhone的專題報導裡，提到iPhone其中一個最教人驚艷的設計特色，就是它的簡約性：iPhone沒有多餘的部分，每個世代的進化除了是微電腦跑得更快更省電之外，其他都沒有太大的變動，完全承襲之前的設計：一開始的第一世代，就已是完美設計了。

如果iPhone是喬布施的終極傑作，那麼造物主的終極傑作又是什麼？答案是教人望而生畏的蟑螂。化石記錄告訴我們，蟑螂的歷史遠遠悠久過人類，而億萬年以來，其身體結構幾近沒有變化；與蟑螂同時誕生的其他生物，大部分都已作古，唯有蟑螂逃過最嚴苛的自然考驗，一路活到今天。

蟑螂是完美的生存機器，無論以生存、交配等方面而言，到發展到極至的程度。我們生產垃圾，蟑螂活在食物鏈的低層，吃的就是垃圾；牠甚至可以吃自己的糞便生存。核爆仍然無阻蟑螂強韌的生命力：核爆之後，牠們還是活得好端端的。更糟糕的是：若你要取牠小命，幾乎所有毒物對你的害處，都大於對蟑螂的害處。

黑警戲稱示威者為「蟑螂」，欲殺之而後快。若它們讀了這本書，知道人與蟑螂的對決必敗無疑之後，會有什麼感想？

[Chris Bull · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eeeech

Living in the tropics in a place where sanitation is a theory, cockroaches are an everyday event. Must say that the breezy writing style went a long way to make this an easy read. A good deal of information, especially in eradicating the little things.

[道尼 羅伯 · Rating 2 out of 5]

在知道作者不是學者的時候，就隱約覺得不會是太正經的科普書籍。

從尼加拉瓜吸毒的兒童們，到波特蘭的刑事調查，再到摩洛哥的舊市集。每個章節都會收錄作者的那些跟蟑螂沒有關係的經歷。即便作為轉場的鋪墊，內容也實在太多了，整本書看完跟蟑螂生態沒有關係的部分都超過50%了吧。

書中提供了一種蟑螂陷阱的製作方法，把罐子內緣塗滿凡士林再放進食物。我複製了一個在廁所裡。經過一晚，並沒有發現那些黑色小東西在罐子裡頭。可能是陷阱沒用，更希望我家不是個給牠們安身立命的好地方。

[darebear 😍 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly interesting to learn about cockroaches lol. I also really liked the stories thrown in. Is it just me or did this author live the most interesting life because I would love to read his biography

[Rene]

“In short, when we've drowned in our own shit, roaches will be dining on it. When we've eliminated our own species from the planet, cockroaches will be here to enjoy the leftovers.”

[María Zabala · Rating 5 out of 5]

We know about bees and ants. How do you know about blattarians? Absolutely both disgusting and entertaining.

[Nina Flores · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t hate this, and that says a lot

[dejah_thoris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A light read on a serious subject that touches on all the major aspects of cockroaches with famous quotes thrown in. Anatomy, behavior, and extermination are all well covered as are the roach's place in art and society. Personal anecdotes from the author make what could be a dry text highly enjoyable though I still don't recommend reading while eating, especially the part about roaches harboring in ears. *shudder*

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ick. Somewhat unbelievably, I reread this one. I remembered reading it back in the 90s and having a slightly newfound respect for la cucarocha. Unfortunately, upon revisiting the topic, I’m not convinced. Although the author did include some interesting stories from his research travels, I didn’t find this book to be as informative as I remembered. Cockroaches are just gross.

[Lavina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horrifying.

[Nyna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everything you could ever want to know about cockroaches. And they are repulsive but fascinating. Most amazing is their biological systems.