4 • The Southwest Portland Post
FEATURES
July 2012
Author Amy Stewart cheerfully tackles creepy insects and poisonous plants
BOOK REVIEW
By Stephanie Lodromanean
The Southwest Portland Post
If you’re interested in a fascinating
summer read there is a two-volume
collection by best-selling author Amy
Stewart that tackles the wicked side of
plants and bugs.
The books are published by Al-
gonquin Books of Chapel Hill and
are affectionately titled Wicked Bugs:
The Louse That Conquered Napoleon’s
Army & Other Diabolical Insects [$18.95
hardcover, 2009] and Wicked Plants:
The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother
& Other Botanical Atrocities [$18.95
hardcover, 2011].
Etchings and drawings in Wicked
Bugs are by Briony Morrow-Cribbs.
Etchings in Wicked Plants are by
Morrow-Cribbs, with illustrations by
Jonathon Rosen.
Stewart is not a scientist, nor does
she claim to be; she is a writer with a
passion for the misunderstood bugs
and plants of the world that don’t get
much attention, but left to their own
devices can wreak havoc.
Wicked Plants is the first of the duo.
Partly why the book is so entertaining
comes from the passion that Stewart
clearly has for botany; they are not
explained in scientific monotone. The
introduction to these chilling plants is
instead an adventure.
We learn about the to-
bacco plant with “a leaf so
toxic that it has taken the
lives of 90 million people
worldwide; so addictive
that it led to a war against
Native Americans; so pow-
erful that it led to the estab-
lishment of slavery in the
American South.”
We also learn about the
ergot, a parasitic fungus
that most likely led to the
Salem Witch Trials of 1691.
Regarding the effects
of ergot, Stewart writes:
“Records going back to
the Middle Ages show that
from time to time, an entire
village would succumb to
mysterious illness. Villag-
ers would dance in the streets, go into
convulsions, and eventually collapse.”
Wicked Bugs is equally as captivat-
ing as its predecessor. The term “bug”
is used loosely in the context of this
book.
As Stewart explains, “Entomolo-
gists will be quick to protest that the
term bug is misleading and they are
quite right. Most of us use the word to
describe any number of tiny slithering
and crawling creatures…”
The “bugs” explained in this book
are sure to leave an unsettling feeling
on your skin and leave you a lot more
aware of those creepy crawlers that
linger just about everywhere in our
natural world.
They are equally as fascinating and
incredible as the plants explained in
Wicked Plants. The bugs all have a
creepy trait that can lead to death,
infestations or other awful endeavors.
One of the more eerie insects you’ll
meet is the Human Bot Fly. The fly
will attach itself to a mosquito and
lay eggs. After the mosquito lands
on a human, the eggs will fall off and
become enlivened by the warmth of
the human host.
Hillsdale Blueberry Pancake Breakfast
The host will be left with something
like a wound that won’t quite heal:
“The wound can be painful and itchy,
it can ooze a foul-smelling liquid, and
some people even claim they can hear
the creature moving around.” Defi-
nitely gives bug bites a new meaning.
If you’re looking for a quick and
interesting summer read, definitely
check out Amy Stewart’s Wicked
books. When you’re outside gar-
dening or just walking along some
beautiful Portland trails you’ll find
yourself more aware of what may be
around you.