Insect Lives: Stories of Mystery and Romance from a Hidden World offers an entertaining and informative survey of the human fascination, dreadful and otherwise, with insects diabolical and divine, from accounts in the Bible and Aristotle to the writings of Charles Darwin and the great nineteenth-century naturalists sending home accounts from the rain forest. Highlighted here are observations from E. O. Wilson, Jean-Henri Fabre, David Quammen, May Berenbaum, Roger Swain, William Wordsworth, A. S. Byatt, Gary Larson and more than sixty other writers who tell of the mystery and romance of that other, hidden world beneath our feet and beyond our rolled-up newspapers.

Most of the selections are entertaining, or at least interesting. Many are records of direct observation by naturalists in the 19th or early 20th Centuries. Usually they have some distinguishing feature such as freakish behavior, first observation, or an exceptionally interesting experiment included.

This is not a scientific book on insects--Although many of the authors are scientists, the excerpts don't fit together to make a textbook or organized survey of insects. What it is is very interesting and entertaining--A good bathroom or bedside book for the insect-lover. Definitely do not choose it as your first or only book in trying to learn about insects, but it makes a good addition to the insect library of an enthusiast.


An entertaining and comprehensive book   June 16, 2000
 9 out of 9 found this review helpful

If you're interested in insects, this book is for you. An excellent collection of a a large quantity of writings and other materials, all about insects. Good bedside reading, as each excerpt is relatively short.


A cornucopia of creepy-crawlies   April 23, 2000
 12 out of 12 found this review helpful

This is a beautifully and cleverly edited eclectic collection of stories, articles, poems, scientific treatises, and even cartoons about insects. There are quaint stories from the eighteenth century, studious articles from the nineteenth, and modern selections from such twentieth century experts as Edward O. Wilson, Roger B. Swain. Karl von Frisch, May Berenbaum, Harold Oldroyd and others. Charles Darwin is represented, Aristotle, Alfred Russel Wallace, Thoreau, even the Bible makes an appearance. There are selections from a novella, A.S. Byatt's "Morpho Eugenia"; poems, Wordsworth's "To a Butterfly," Robert Burns's "To a Louse"; and even a bit of a movie, THEM! (1954). Obviously, editors, Hoyt and Schultz are as intent at entertaining as informing. You'll find dozens of different insects here, from house flies and ants to dung beetles and glow-worms to ticks, wasps, silverfish, etc. Each selection is presented with a short note from the editors and followed by a bibliographical entry. There is an index of authors and one of subjects. The selections are collected under various heading, e.g., "Insects Praised," "Insects Reviled," "Insect Architecture," etc. The sheer breath of insect behavior presented here is unnerving: How multifarious are the realities of life! Noteworthy is the meticulous care taken with the editing and proofreading. This is a good and strange read.