Dark Banquet: Blood and the Curious Lives of Blood-Feeding Creatures
Author: Bill Schutt
For centuries, blood feeders have inhabited our nightmares and horror stories, as well as the shadowy realms of scientific knowledge. In Dark Banquet, zoologist Bill Schutt takes readers on an entertaining voyage into the world of some of nature’s strangest creatures—the sanguivores. Using a sharp eye and mordant wit, Schutt makes a remarkably persuasive case that vampire bats, leeches, ticks, bed bugs, and other vampires are as deserving of our curiosity as warmer and fuzzier species are—and that many of them are even worthy of conservation.
Schutt takes us from rural Trinidad to the jungles of Brazil to learn about some of the most reviled, misunderstood, and marvelously evolved animals on our planet: vampire bats. Only recently has fact begun to disentangle itself from fiction concerning these remarkable animals, and Schutt delves into the myths and misconceptions surrounding them.
Examining the substance that sustains nature’s vampires, Schutt reveals just how little we actually knew about blood until well into the twentieth century. We revisit George Washington on his deathbed to learn how ideas about blood and the supposedly therapeutic value of bloodletting, first devised by the ancient Egyptians and Greeks, survived into relatively modern times. Schutt also tracks the history of medicinal leech use. Once employed by the tens of millions to drain perceived excesses of blood, today the market for these ancient creatures is booming once again—but for very different reasons.
Among the other blood feeders we meet in these pages are bed bugs, or “ninja insects,” which are making a creepy resurgence in posh hotels andwell-kept homes near you. In addition, Dark Banquet details our dangerous and sometimes deadly encounters with ticks, chiggers, and mites (the latter implicated in Colony Collapse Disorder—currently devastating honey bees worldwide). Then there are the truly weird—vampire finches. And if you thought piranha were scary, some people believe that the candiru (or willy fish) is the best reason to avoid swimming in the Amazon.
Enlightening, alarming, and appealing to our delight in the bizarre, Dark Banquet peers into a part of the natural world to which we are, through our blood, inextricably linked.
The Washington Post - Alex Remington
Bill Schutt's Dark Banquet profiles some of the animal kingdom's dedicated bloodsuckers, from vampire bats and the dreaded candiru catfish to the not-so-dreaded vampire finch. A bat specialist at Long Island University and an associate at the American Museum of Natural History, Schutt is an engaging writer…Though more for biology lovers than for "Buffy" fans, Dark Banquet has just enough of the macabre to justify its holiday tie-in. And for any method actor preparing to put on Dracula's cape for Halloween, reading it is an excellent way to get in character.
Publishers Weekly
In this salmagundi of abstruse science, informative history and engaging personal anecdotes, Schutt's fascination for "sanguivores" goes a long way toward disarming, while defining, our primal fear of creatures that feed on blood. For all their fearsome rep@utation, only three of 1,100 bat species savor blood, and one of those preys exclusively on chickens. The author doesn't make sanguivores entirely cuddly: part two opens with the horrifying theory that George Washington was likely bled to death by ill-informed doctors and eager leeches, and includes an account of the first dog-to-dog transfusion in 1666 (the first successful human transfusion was in 1901). In part three, Schutt surveys other blood feeders: leeches currently making a comeback in modern medicine, pesky bedbugs and chiggers, and potentially lethal mosquitoes and ticks. One oddity (and typically fascinating tidbit) in the sanguivore world is the "vampire finch" of the Galapagos, which Schutt theorizes is evolving before scientists' eyes, turning to blood-sipping when other nourishment is in short supply. Passages that focus on the science can be a slog, but are quickly alleviated by sections that are witty and illuminating. (Oct.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Cynthia Knight - Library Journal
The subjects of this book-vampire bats, leeches, bed bugs, mites, ticks, and candiru (the blood-sucking catfish of the Amazon River)-are creatures that often repulse us. But Schutt (biology, C.W. Post Coll.; mammology, American Museum of Natural History) hooks the reader on the first page with a riveting description of how the Trinidadian white-winged vampire bat mimics the behavior of a baby chick in order to nestle under the mother hen and bleed her. Schutt's hands-on experience with vampire bats, both in the wild and in the lab, makes his chapters on bats particularly engaging. Yet this is a well-rounded exploration of blood feeders from both a biological perspective (habitat, diet, life cycle) and an evolutionary one (how and why obligate blood feeding evolved). Though the author crams too much information into too many excessively long footnotes and the illustrations lack captions, the book remains engrossing science. It is no small feat to create an appreciation for organisms that at the very least pester us and at the very worst can kill us. An excellent choice for the high school student considering a science career and for the general reader.
Kirkus Reviews
Schutt (Biology/C.W. Post Coll.) enthusiastically surveys the world of sanguivores and hematophages. That's "blood eaters" to the layperson, and if the vampire species doesn't get you, then the leeches and chiggers and bedbugs and mites and ticks likely will-not unto death, perhaps, but very much unto distraction. And if it's the candiru that swims its way up your urethra, there to lodge its spines and gorge away, then best of luck in your struggle. Schutt explains the history and metabolism of these unpleasant critters, including their fossil and cultural records. He details the nasty group of diseases they transmit: bubonic plague, rabies, scrub typhus, tick vectors. Almost worse than these real ailments is delusional parasitosis, "a condition in which the victim believes that tiny biting or bloodsucking creatures are crawling over his or her body." Though the author enjoys extolling these sensational aspects, at the same time he painlessly-rather like vampire bats, whose nip is rarely felt-introduces scientific material such as ontogeny, phylogeny and heterochrony. He takes critical detours when necessary ("So what is blood, exactly?") and displays a pleasingly corny sense of humor: "Leeches had always given me the creeps. In fact they were right up there with clowns and televangelists." Schutt even manages to make a case for their existence as food sources, pollinators and insectivores, not to mention the beneficent use contemporary medicine makes of leeches. Then he dangles a few additional bloodthirsty beasts, including hookworms, assassin bugs and the vampire finch that feeds on the blue-footed booby. Bloodthirsty readers may well find their appetite whetted for more. A naturalhistory of bloodsuckers that shines in gory glory.
Dorm Room Diet: The 8-Step Program for Creating a Healthy Lifestyle Plan That Really Works
Author: Daphne Oz
Introducing a fresh new voice and a simple 8-step program specifically created for college students by a college student—a complete lifestyle guide to eating well and staying fit.
Like many girls, Daphne Oz struggled with her weight as a teenager and couldn't stick with the extreme restrictions of fad diets. She was able to seize control over her health and her weight only when she recognized the golden opportunity offered by the major transition to college life. With the help of her father and grandfather, both cardiac surgeons, and her grandmother, a homeopathic practitioner, she developed the eating and exercise habits that would help her lose 10 pounds in her first semester. So much for the proverbial Freshman 15! All her friends wanted to know how she did it. Now they, and thousands of others, can.
Daphne's 8-step program shows college students how to stop eating out of emotional need and examine when, where, and especially what they should eat to keep their minds in focus and their bodies in shape. With warmth and humor, she coaches readers on managing time, storing food, and respecting budgets; helps them navigate the most common danger zones at school for unhealthy eating; and shows them how to get the exercise they need, even in a tiny dorm room. She also offers invaluable tips on vitamins and supplements, and simple, effective ways to relax and rejuvenate right on campus, so students can stay mentally as well as physically fit.
The Dorm Room Diet is a winning combination of the author's personal story and practical strategies that empower young women to use their newfound independence to create a healthy lifestyle while incollege—and for life.
Daphne Oz's 8-step program for looking good, feeling great, and keeping fit in college:
Step 1: Get Inspired Step 2: Get Informed: The Frosh 15 Step 3: Get Started: Healthy Eating 101 Step 4: Get a Grip: Where and How to Eat Responsibly at College Step 5: Get Prepared: The Five Danger Zones and How to Survive Them Step 6: Get Moving: The Exercise Factor Step 7: Get Your Vitamins: Everything You Need to Know About Supplements Step 8: Get Recharged: A More Relaxed, More Effective You
Publishers Weekly
Daughter of bestselling cardiologist Mehmet Oz (You: The Owner's Manual), the young Oz struggled with weight as a teen. Now a Princeton sophomore, she offers a range of advice for college girls hoping to sidestep the "Freshman 15." Those late-night study binges, tailgating and sports events, parties, TV watching and heavy talks can lead even clever Ivy Leaguers down the road to weight gain. No doubt inspired by her dad (who penned the introduction), Oz offers an eight-step program that advocates sensible, healthful eating, exercise and vitamin use. While warning against the pitfalls of high-calorie foods like alcohol, full-fat cheese and simple carbs, she okays coffee in moderation, bread dipped in olive oil, and chocolate. Balance is crucial, Oz notes, pointing out that one night of partying won't spoil everything if it's followed by healthy eating the next day. Punctuating her text with practical tips (stock up on wholesome snacks such as almonds and veggies before snuggling in for a study marathon, the author addresses her female peers in a breezy, conversational style. This is a great book to pack between the extra-long twin sheets and study lamp. (Sept.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Library Journal
When at least one of your parents is in the medical profession, it can be assumed that you have been acculturated into a lifestyle that involves healthy eating and exercise habits. That will not absolve you, however, of the potential to pack on the unwelcome "freshman 15." In The Dorm Room Diet, Oz-whose physician father coauthored the popular You: The Owner's Manual and You: The Smart Patient-writes openly and engagingly on the subject of eating well and staying fit as a college student. She outlines her own experience as a first-year student and includes an exercise plan described with simple line drawings. One of the eight steps of practical advice she offers deals with how to become informed and prepared and how to stay focused on getting healthy. In The Smart Student's Guide, registered dietitian M.J. Smith (fellow, American Dietetic Assn.; Diabetic Low-Fat and No-Fat Meals in Minutes) and her son, Fred, a college senior who put on the freshman 15, instruct readers on getting the most they can out of the college experience while remaining healthy and happy. The book's strengths are its two different food plans, extensive sections on sleep and stress, and 40 recipes that can be prepared in the dorm. Oz's voice is clearly heard in her book, which is focused on diet and exercise, whereas the Smiths' book feels more like advice coming from a parent or professional, as stated facts are backed with citations to research. Both are valuable in their own right and are recommended for public libraries and consumer health collections with a focus on YAs.-Beth Hill, Univ. of Idaho Lib., Moscow Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Brigeen RadoicichCopyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal
Adult/High School
Written in a style similar to Steven Covey's "Highly Effective Teens" books (S & S) and passing along wisdom the author learned from her father, Mehemet Oz, author of You: The Owner's Manual (HarperCollins, 2005), this title is part dietary adviser, part survival guide for the first year of college. Specifically addressing girls, it is filled with quotes from young women, giving tips for staying healthy. Topics include eating habits for all-nighters and illustrated exercises to be done in the dorm room. While the dietary advice is general in nature, Oz chronicles her own struggles with weight and is encouraging to readers trying to maintain healthy lifestyles. Checklists, self-reflection questions, and boxed tips are interspersed throughout. The tone is upbeat and positive. Teenage girls will enjoy the anecdotes and learn a lot about staying healthy along the way.
Table of Contents:
| Foreword | ||
| Acknowledgments | ||
| Introduction: Get It Right, Now | 1 | |
| Step 1 | Get Inspired | 11 |
| Step 2 | Get Informed: The Freshman 15 | 23 |
| Step 3 | Get Started: Healthy Eating 101 | 53 |
| Step 4 | Get a Grip: Where and How to Eat Responsibly at College | 81 |
| Step 5 | Get Prepared: The Five Danger Zones and How to Survive Them | 103 |
| Step 6 | Get Moving: The Exercise Factor | 133 |
| Step 7 | Get Your Vitamins: Everything You Need to Know About Supplements | 171 |
| Step 8 | Get Happy: A More Relaxed, More Effective You | 203 |
| References | 219 | |
| Index | 221 |
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