Life Lessons from a Parasite, John Janovy Jr.
Life Lessons from a Parasite, John Janovy Jr.
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Life Lessons from a Parasite
What Tapeworms, Flukes, Lice, and Roundworms Can Teach Us About Humanity's Most Difficult Problems

Author: John Janovy Jr.

Narrator: Joel Richards

Unabridged: 9 hr 21 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 08/20/2024


Synopsis

The answers to life's biggest questions can be found by looking at the little things . . .

Though you may not be able to see them with the naked eye, parasites—miniscule life forms that live inside other organisms—inhabit our everyday lives. From headlice to bird droppings, litterboxes to unfiltered water, you have brushed up against the most common way of life on our planet.

In this unique book, John Janovy Jr., one of the world's preeminent experts on parasites, reveals what can humans learn from the most reviled yet misunderstood animals on Earth: lice, tapeworms, flukes, and maggots that can eat a lizard from the inside, and how these lessons help us negotiate our own complicated world. Whether we're learning to adapt to adverse conditions, accept our own limitations, or process new information in an ever-changing landscape—we can be sure a parasite did it first.

At once peculiar and profound, Life Lessons from a Parasite makes a case for using knowledge of the natural world, with all its wonderful mysteries and quirks, to tackle our worst problems.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Michelle on September 18, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC. As much as I get why the author wants to draw attention to the parallels between living parasites and infectious ideas, I feel like some chapters were stronger than others. The later half of the book made more sense to me, especially the iron wheel cha......more

Goodreads review by Signy on April 29, 2025

wanted more about parasites tbh. not the book for me!......more

Goodreads review by Laura on March 28, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book! I really don’t like to write sour reviews so I’ll keep this short and sweet. There were a few interesting parasites mentioned in the book, but the connection to how ideas and information spread and “life lessons” was tenuous at best. It......more

Goodreads review by Dan on June 15, 2024

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Sourcebooks for an advance copy of this memoir about a life in science, a look at something that every living creature seems to deal with, or has occupying them, and how this tells us about the way the world is run, and why many think and do what they do. The......more

Goodreads review by Annie on August 11, 2024

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader. Life Lessons from a Parasite is an interesting monograph with observations on parasitology and some comparisons to human society written by Dr. John Janovy, Jr. Due out 20th Aug 2024 from Sourcebooks, it's 336 pages and will be available in paperback,......more