If you're familiar with Mary Roach, you know that she's never afraid to ask the questions that you might think of, but wouldn't dare ask. She's not afraid to explore the icky, sticky (or worse) and gives you a ton of information in a book that's as readable as page-turning fiction. Well, that's at least my take on Mary Roach; I'm a big fan,
In this newest book, Roach explores the science of "keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war." So, there are chapters on uniform materials and design, noise and hearing damage, how combat medics train for the stresses they encounters, and . . . poop. Seems like just about every book by Mary Roach has at least one mention of poop. But seriously, the way that she writes, it's not gross. Maybe a little gross. But pretty interesting, too.
I was, as I expected I would be, surprised by how much I learned. The author really asks some interesting questions of people, and while I'm sure they are sometimes surprised by what she asks, I'm glad that she asks --- because sometimes, I wonder about things but either wouldn't know who to ask, or would feel like it's an impolite question. After reading this book, I have learned much more about military procedures and what people in the military face, which is both enlightening and sobering.
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