I've been writing full-time since about 1984 - mostly magazine features and columns. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I rarely listen to music while writing. I wish I could, but it distracts me. — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
The writing is always the easy part, provided I can get the good material. It's the getting of the good material that's… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
I don't write on topics that require a lot of urgency. But in 'Stiff,' I wanted to change people's hearts about organ… — 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
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
I didn't really realize that writing... would be fun and people would pay you to do it. Being an astronaut is a… — 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
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
I very much was inspired by Bill Bryson. He does cover science, but more often, it's a mixture of science and travel,… — Mary Roach Copy Share Image
“Squatting upon the floor of the room, without any perceptible effort he passed into the hollow of his hand the contents of… — 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
