jmercury's review against another edition
3.0
This was a fun and informative pop sci book. It starts off with adorable vampire bats and continues on through a menagerie of less cuddly (but still fascinating) critters. The writing is clear, eloquent, reasonably clever, and accessible. Overall an enjoyable library book.
marginaliant's review against another edition
3.0
This is an extremely fun book with lots of interesting facts, but it is woefully disorganized and unbalanced. Schutt took on a lot here, discussing the microbiological nature of blood, the macrobiological evolution of blood-sucking creatures, medical history, folklore, and modern pest advice, but it's just too much. It lacks sign posts to indicate where we are and where we are going, and key information about the evolution of bloodsuckers is left until the very end in a stunted final chapter, when that should have been upfront. It is not bad by any means, but needed some structural reorganizing and a whip-cracking editor.
fictionalalex's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
lighthearted
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Dark Banquet was a quirky book with an interesting mix of science and humour. It went into much more scientific detail than I had anticipated, but it was still fascinating. I did struggle with mixing up some of the scientific names, but that might be more of a reflection of me than the book's writing.
The first half of the book about bats really highlighted Schutt's passion for his field. However, the later half and other non-bat subjects fell flat for me.
The first half of the book about bats really highlighted Schutt's passion for his field. However, the later half and other non-bat subjects fell flat for me.
angiediane's review against another edition
4.0
I am having a difficult time doing an overall rating for this book. I really enjoyed the first part of this book, on vampire bats - that gets 5 stars. Having worked with them in the past, I found his observations to be spot-on, and I discovered many more fascinating insights on them as well. Schutt provided anecdotes from his personal career and experience, which I liked.
The second part on the specific biology of blood was also very interesting. I was especially intrigued with the historical context and the story of George Washington's last days, which I had not encountered in such medical detail before.
The final part of the book was least diverting for me, but perhaps that is because I am not a huge fan of ticks, mites, and chiggers. While I understand that they are a part of the ecological web of life, I still didn't really care so much for reading about them. Additionally, bedbugs took over a large part of this section of the book, and they have been done to death by the media. Overall, however, I enjoyed the premise of the book. I would love to see him do an entire book on his bat experiences; until then, I plan to look up his scholarly publications, just to learn more about his experiments and conclusions.
The second part on the specific biology of blood was also very interesting. I was especially intrigued with the historical context and the story of George Washington's last days, which I had not encountered in such medical detail before.
The final part of the book was least diverting for me, but perhaps that is because I am not a huge fan of ticks, mites, and chiggers. While I understand that they are a part of the ecological web of life, I still didn't really care so much for reading about them. Additionally, bedbugs took over a large part of this section of the book, and they have been done to death by the media. Overall, however, I enjoyed the premise of the book. I would love to see him do an entire book on his bat experiences; until then, I plan to look up his scholarly publications, just to learn more about his experiments and conclusions.
thaydra's review against another edition
4.0
A book about critters that eat/drink blood- human or otherwise. Easy to read even for a person who is not very science-literate. Full of humor. I found myself chuckling often, with the occasional outburst of actual laughter. Like many of the reviewers, the chapter on the bed bugs was almost traumatic (throw in the fact that I had just gotten eaten alive by mosquitos, so was already itchy... awful... LOL).
merricatct's review against another edition
5.0
Who would've thought that a book about leeches, ticks, and blood transfusions could be so damn funny? I laughed out loud so many times while reading this, and my poor husband was the recipient of quite a few texts with pictures of the choicest paragraphs. I really loved this author's blend of fact and humor, and will definitely keep an eye out for more books by him.
As for the subject matter - the title kind of says it all. If you're really squeamish about bugs or blood, you may want to skip this one, because the author does a great job of conveying the scientific/biological facts while making it easily accessible for casual readers. Meaning, you'll probably feel like bugs are crawling on you more than once while reading this. Brrrrr. But the subject matter is fascinating, and I definitely learned a lot. Exactly what I want in a nonfiction!
As for the subject matter - the title kind of says it all. If you're really squeamish about bugs or blood, you may want to skip this one, because the author does a great job of conveying the scientific/biological facts while making it easily accessible for casual readers. Meaning, you'll probably feel like bugs are crawling on you more than once while reading this. Brrrrr. But the subject matter is fascinating, and I definitely learned a lot. Exactly what I want in a nonfiction!