What's eating you?
Subtitle: people and parasites
By: Eugene H. Kaplan ; illustrated by Susan L. Kaplan and Sandy Chichester Rivkin.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2010
Place of publication: Princeton
Language: eng
Number of pages: 302
ISBN-13: 9780691141404
Subjects: Parasites -- Popular works; Host-parasite relationships -- Popular works
Genres: Popular works
Description: In What's Eating You? Eugene Kaplan recounts the true and harrowing tales of his adventures with parasites, and in the process introduces readers to the intimately interwoven lives of host and parasite. Kaplan has spent his life traveling the globe exploring oceans and jungles, and incidentally acquiring parasites in his gut. Here, he leads readers on an unforgettable journey into the bizarre yet oddly beautiful world of parasites. In a narrative that is by turns frightening, disgusting, and laugh-out-loud funny, Kaplan describes how drinking contaminated water can cause a three-foot-long worm to burst from your arm; how he "gave birth" to a parasite the size and thickness of a pencil while working in Israel; why you should never wave a dead snake in front of your privates; and why fleas are attracted to his wife. Kaplan tells stories about leeches feasting on soldiers in Vietnam; sea cucumbers with teeth in their anuses that seem to encourage the entry of symbiotic fish; the habits of parasites that cause dysentery, river blindness, and other horrifying diseases--and much, much more. Along the way, he explains the underlying science, including parasite evolution and host-parasite physiology. Informative, frequently lurid, and hugely entertaining, this beautifully illustrated book is a must-read for health-conscious travelers, and anyone who has ever wondered if they picked up a tapeworm from that last sushi dinner.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: On the sacredness of life; title: Introduction. the saline solution[[m-]]an inner sea; title: Land of smiles; title: An encounter with Jordan Rose; title: I had a farm in Africa; title: Death of a mouse; title: Intimate relationships; title: A peek into the anus of my child; title: The well-hung dog; title: Fiery serpent; title: It hardly ever happens; title: The anti-semitic tapeworm; title: Mother always wanted me to be a real doctor; title: Missus Murphy's baby; title: The day I flunked the macho test; title: The biblical plagues; title: Alley cats and seagulls; title: A better mousetrap; title: Scandals and ghosts; title: Spiny-headed monsters; title: Bloodsucking beasts; title: Ode to a cockroach; title: Bats, bugs, and bloody bites; title: Little fleas have littler fleas; title: How to get rid of crabs; title: Wild virgins; title: Inexplicable behavior: some relationships are more intimate than others; title: Topsy-turvy worlds; title: A day in the Caribbean; title: Tit, tit, tittie cuckoo; title: The game of life: name that category; title: Paean of praise; title: Tips for travelers.