All good research-whether for science or for a book-is a form of obsession. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
All of my books tend to be about things going on in labs that you wouldn't really expect. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
The broader the topic, the easier it is, not only to fill a book, but to set the bar pretty high for… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I'm always imposing my taste in books on others. I hope that people enjoy being surprised by a book they might not… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Editors are more concerned with the first chapters of a book; that's what everyone reads first in the bookstore or in the… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
It's this mood, these sentiments - the excitement of exploration and the surprises and delights of travel to foreign locales - that… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
When I'm done with a book, I always give it to someone with expertise in the topic and tell them to flag… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I've read plenty of amazing science pieces where the writers don't hang out in labs. I just have fun doing it. And… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“There wasn't an anhydrous lacrimal gland in the house, writes the author in all seriousness describing a memorial service for a medical… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I write with a sense of my future readers being ever on the verge of setting down the book and pronouncing it… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Will I switch to E-reading? I won't, mainly because I love the look and feel of books - particularly hardbacks. I love… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“Sleeter Bull,* the author of the 1951 book Meat for the Table, claims the ancient Greeks had a taste for udders. Very… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Any time you can take a book a little beyond the realm of pure entertainment, I think it's a good thing. But… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“If you found this book in the New Age section of your local bookstore, it was grossly misshelved, and you should put… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I don't read good books anymore, it seems; I just buy them and put them on the shelf and every now and… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Follow your instincts. Do the kind of writing you love to do and do best. 'Stiff' was an oddball book - I… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Every now and then, someone will tell me that one of my books has made them laugh out loud. I never believe… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
One of the maddening ironies of writing books is that it leaves so little time for reading others'. My bedside is piled… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“think of it.' said Robert Rosenbluth, a doctor whose acquaintance i made at the start of this book. 'no engineer could design… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Literally thousands of e-mails over the course of a book go out to people I've never met, people who might end up… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
Many people will find this book disrespectful. There is nothing amusing about being dead, they will say. Ah, but there is. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
A fine book, in the perfect setting, when there's all the time in the world to read it: Life holds greater joys,… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
You won't see me writing about particle physics, or even planetary geology, or chemistry. I practically failed chemistry, and if I had… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
My books are not really books; they're endless chains of distraction shoved inside a cover. Many of them begin at the search… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“Because my readers, perhaps more than anyone else’s, might be inspired to head out to the pasture with a lighter in their… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
You do not question an author who appears on the title page as "T.V.N. Persaud, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.C.Path. (Lond.), F.F.Path. (R.C.P.I.),… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
When you buy my books, you kind of know what you're in for. It's kind of self-selecting. If you have a delicate… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“Rawson points out that although snakes can’t taste, they have a primitive sense of smell. They’ll extend their tongue to gather volatile molecules and… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“As the number of Inuit who hunt has dwindled, so has the consumption of organs (and other anatomy not available for purchase at the… — Mary Roach Copy Share
For the most part, if somebody approaches me and says, 'I'd like to interview you,' who am I to say no, when I spend… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“If you look at survivable crashes, it’s rare that even half the emergency exits open,” says Shanahan. “Plus, there’s a lot of panic and… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“…he was doing a breath hydrogen test. If you know the amount of hydrogen someone is exhaling orally, it's a simple matter to extrapolate… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Viagra isn't the only drug being prescribed off-label for women with arousal problems. Los Angeles urologist Jennifer Berman told me some doctors are prescribing… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Sharing a room with a cadaver is only mildly different from being in a room alone. They are the same sort of company as… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Every now and then, someone will tell me that one of my books has made them laugh out loud. I never believe them because:… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“panel applicants at the initial screening were asked not only to describe the cat foods but also to rate them according to how much… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“* Kissing is a less aggressive form of bacterial transplant. Studies of three different gingivitis-causing bacteria have documented migration from spouse to spouse. Periodontically… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Nirlungayuk reached a similar conclusion. I tracked him down, seventeen years later, and asked him what the outcome of his country-foods campaign had been.… — Mary Roach Copy Share
Astronauts are like these mythic legends, but really, they are just regular people, people who wear chinos. — Mary Roach Copy Share
“Olive trees grow in the same climate and soil conditions as grapes. The olive oil people have been up in Napa Valley all along,… — Mary Roach Copy Share
“A patient on the way to surgery travels at twice the speed of a patient on the way to the morgue. Gurneys that ferry… — Mary Roach Copy Share
