Parasite Rex: Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures in Science and Inquiry

Sep 07, 2010 Adam rated it it was amazing

Shelves: science

I don't know why, but I find parasites interesting. However, I wasn't exactly looking for a book on this particular subject; rather I merely stumbled upon it. When I go to the book store I typically peruse my favorite sections, one of which is science. On the shelf I came across the title "Parasite Rex"... so I picked it up "King Parasite...huh." Then I made the mistake of reading the back of the book and found out what it was about. I had to buy this book immediately!

I'm always reading, so I h I don't know why, but I find parasites interesting. However, I wasn't exactly looking for a book on this particular subject; rather I merely stumbled upon it. When I go to the book store I typically peruse my favorite sections, one of which is science. On the shelf I came across the title "Parasite Rex"... so I picked it up "King Parasite...huh." Then I made the mistake of reading the back of the book and found out what it was about. I had to buy this book immediately!

I'm always reading, so I had to finish up a couple other books before I could start reading this one, so I waited patiently in eager anticipation. I'll usually read two or three books at a time, and when I finally got freed up, I started this book. I didn't read another book until I finished this. It is one of the most engrossing scientific books I have in my collection. Carl Zimmer is actually a phenomenal writer. I'm not a scientist, but I enjoy reading about it and it's written in a manner just about anyone should be able to understand. It's like a science report that flows, but doesn't sound overly scientific, yet it's still science!

Parasite Rex doesn't just deal with one specific parasite, like the title might suggest, rather it's a veritable tour of the parasitic world. The reader finds themselves enthralled with each creature. It really changes your perspective on the world as a whole, realizing that the major importance of sex is so that we can vary up our genetic code to better defend against such parasites. It also makes you realize that for all intents and purposes the fetuses of mammals would also be parasites as well because they force the mother to change her chemical reactions to support the fetus. Also the mother treats the fetus initially as a threat to her system. I personally found all this very fascinating and made me realize that perhaps Agent Smith in the Matrix, when he assessed the human race as a virus, probably should have identified them as a parasite.

The book is also terrifying in some regards because there are parts where it explains where parasites go wrong. Parasites are essentially programmed to thrive in specific locations in your body (or some other creatures). So a parasite that gets lodged in your brain, but it's supposed to be in your stomach could end up killing the host. Or screw up which species it attaches itself to. From what I gathered, the parasites main focus isn't to kill the host, but to feed off of the host's life, so when a parasite is in the wrong spot it executes its program, but it ends up having terrifying affects on the host.

In the end this was a phenomenal read and I can't recommend this enough. In fact I will probably read this a second time because when I read it the first time through I read it pretty quickly. One other thing this book made me not want to do is visit any location that's in the central area of the earth, such as the Amazon. Considering there have been 2,500 different parasites identified in one small location. Carl Zimmer is seriously the kind of writer we need in science to help transfer complex knowledge to the lay population. ...more

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Dec 05, 2019 Rusty rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, prose, science

I’m going to try to get a little closer to current by the end of the year on my reviews. So, watch out internet, Rusty may be posting several reviews over the next few weeks (by which, I mean, essentially, a blog post where I talk about whatever I want to, and at some point may or may not mention the book being reviewed).

I think I may have mentioned my kid coming to visit me here. It was an awesome time. What I didn’t mention is that he has a habit of doing risky things and usually turning out I’m going to try to get a little closer to current by the end of the year on my reviews. So, watch out internet, Rusty may be posting several reviews over the next few weeks (by which, I mean, essentially, a blog post where I talk about whatever I want to, and at some point may or may not mention the book being reviewed).

I think I may have mentioned my kid coming to visit me here. It was an awesome time. What I didn’t mention is that he has a habit of doing risky things and usually turning out okay in the end. Turns out, he had a plan of riding his motorcycle from his place in the southern US to the airport in New York to catch his flight (and later return), because, presumably, the flights were nominally cheaper.

Most people that knew and cared for him advised him that this plan was somewhere between ‘monumental stupidity’ and ‘ill-conceived.’ But like many twentysomething men, the world was full of idiots and he was doing it anyway.

Anyhow, he missed his flight here, as he was too busy shivering on the side of the interstate about 600 miles south of the airport when it took off. He racked up some motel costs as he called the airlines and made arrangements to fly out of the nearest airport and rebook his flight to Bermuda.

But you know what? He made it. He said it was a lesson learned and an experience he’s glad he had. Satisfied that that was about as close as I’ll ever get to a ‘you were right’ sort of thing, my question about his return was simple: Is the return flight to NY? Or to the airport where your motorcycle is?

Needless to say, hilarity ensued. Another round of rebooking, extra fees, and longer transit times followed. He couldn’t get to the airport his motorcycle was at because her return flight was through a different airline that did not service that airport. So he had to go to another city, get someone to take him via car up to his bike, then proceed to fix it (his thoughts on his bike: I’m not sure how the rear wheel didn’t fall off as I drove) and then make his way back home.

Of course, there was a second round of historically bad weather and another bike breakdown with more shivering on the side of the highway. He ended up having to get someone to come get him because he simply couldn’t make it the last hundred miles or so.

The costs of his plan were in the ballpark of a thousand dollars more than if he’d simply flown straight from his local airport. And he was forced to ask friends and family for favors during the holidays. But on the plus side, he cataloged the whole trip, videoing almost every waking moment, so I’m hoping for a Trains, Planes, and Automobiles type of film to come out of the whole ordeal.

And then there was this book, which was about a jillion times more terrifying to me than thinking about my kid and his death wish. While this book has nothing at all to do with anything I’ve previously typed, it does connect for me because it makes it clear that life on this planet is a large scale war for survival and that we live in a sea of parasites that will eat your brain, your organs, your flesh, and make you dream of a quick death. They may change how you think, how you live, and how you act – only to benefit them – and make you believe it’s a great idea that you’re living your life based on what they need.

Nightmares. All the world is a nightmare.

Regardless, I feel I have to point out that this is the longest I have EVER wanted to read a book before I actually set down to read. I read a pre-release excerpt from it in Discover Magazine in what I think was the very late 90’s (could have been early 2000’s) and really wanted to give it a try then. It ended up taking me 20 years to finally get around to it. So, wow. Time flies. ...more

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Jun 15, 2011 David Schwan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Before reading this I was aware of parasites but ignorant of how closely they are part of an ecosystem. This book does a great job of showing us the world of parasites. Even though parasites are simple creatures they are very effective at what they do. Many parasites redirect or control the behavior the the host they are infecting. Even human behavior is controlled when the human is infected with particular parasites. This is a surprisingly thought provoking book. Definitely worth reading!

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Jan 09, 2010 Tippy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: animalia, disease, evolution, genetics, ecology, environment, 2011

Wow. Just wow.

To begin, the first chapter is about defining a parasite and bemoaning the lack of parasite research and scientists. I found it boring and inconclusive. I kept pushing because I figured like most scientific writing once they get the definitions out of the way the good stuff comes. Seriously, that is exactly what happened. Don't give up on this book! It gets better and better as it goes.

This book is well organized and split into clear section. In one of my favorites, it describes ...more

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Oct 21, 2010 Eric Bingham rated it really liked it

This was a very interesting look at parasites and how they have shaped human existence. It wasn't what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it would be a list of various parasites and how they live, (similar to his other book, Planet of Viruses,) but this book actually deals more with parasites as a group. The author leaves you with a profound appreciation for how complicated parasites are, and for how big of an impact they have had on our lives. (Who knew that rise in allergies h ...more

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