{"product_id":"cannibalism-a-perfectly-natural-history-9781616207434","title":"Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"Surprising. Impressive. \u003ci\u003eCannibalism \u003c\/i\u003erestores my faith in humanity.\" \u003c\/b\u003e--\u003cb\u003eSy Montgomery, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e For centuries scientists have written off cannibalism as a bizarre phenomenon with little biological significance. Its presence in nature was dismissed as a desperate response to starvation or other life-threatening circumstances, and few spent time studying it. A taboo subject in our culture, the behavior was portrayed mostly through horror movies or tabloids sensationalizing the crimes of real-life flesh-eaters. But the true nature of cannibalism--the role it plays in evolution as well as human history--is even more intriguing (and more normal) than the misconceptions we've come to accept as fact. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In \u003ci\u003eCannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e\u003c\/i\u003ezoologist Bill Schutt sets the record straight, debunking common myths and investigating our new understanding of cannibalism's role in biology, anthropology, and history in the most fascinating account yet written on this complex topic. Schutt takes readers from Arizona's Chiricahua Mountains, where he wades through ponds full of tadpoles devouring their siblings, to the Sierra Nevadas, where he joins researchers who are shedding new light on what happened to the Donner Party--the most infamous episode of cannibalism in American history. He even meets with an expert on the preparation and consumption of human placenta (and, yes, it goes well with Chianti). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Bringing together the latest cutting-edge science, Schutt answers questions such as why some amphibians consume their mother's skin; why certain insects bite the heads off their partners after sex; why, up until the end of the twentieth century, Europeans regularly ate human body parts as medical curatives; and how cannibalism might be linked to the extinction of the Neanderthals. He takes us into the future as well, investigating whether, as climate change causes famine, disease, and overcrowding, we may see more outbreaks of cannibalism in many more species--including our own. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eCannibalism \u003c\/i\u003eplaces a perfectly natural occurrence into a vital new context and invites us to explore why it both enthralls and repels us. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBill Schutt is a professor of biology at LIU Post and a research associate in residence at the American Museum of Natural History. His first book, \u003ci\u003eDark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures, \u003c\/i\u003ewas selected as a Best Book of 2008 by \u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal \u003c\/i\u003eand Amazon and was chosen for the Barnes \u0026amp; Noble Discover Great New Writers program. Born in New York City and raised on Long Island by parents who encouraged his love for turning over stones and peering under logs, Schutt quickly grew a passion for the natural world, with its enormous wonders and its increasing vulnerability. He received his PhD in zoology from Cornell and has published over two dozen peer-reviewed articles on topics ranging from terrestrial locomotion in vampire bats to the precarious, arboreal copulatory behavior of a marsupial mouse. His research has been featured in \u003ci\u003eNatural History\u003c\/i\u003e magazine as well as the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNewsday\u003c\/i\u003e, the \u003ci\u003eEconomist, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eDiscover \u003c\/i\u003emagazine. He was recently reelected to the board of directors of the North American Society for Bat Research. Schutt lives on the East End of Long Island with his wife and son. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eThis author is represented by the Hachette Speakers Bureau.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Algonquin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50599477477650,"sku":"9781616207434","price":13.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_fcf5ed51-57b5-467d-8f1b-67f6754dc819.jpg?v=1732201032","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/cannibalism-a-perfectly-natural-history-9781616207434","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}