A review by alibi313
Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

4.0

As someone who has often found biology instructors to have some of the best, slightly twisted senses of humor, I found this author to be right up my alley. Hard science mixed with a a breezy writing style, this book was often laugh-out-loud funny (especially good was the chapter entitled Placenta Helper...). Maybe not that informative, outside of a few anecdotes about some members of the animal kingdom, but thoroughly entertaining. Also interesting was the author’s take on the racist use of cannibalism rumors as a way for “civilized” cultures to exploit and/or exterminate those they view as “savages.” Surprisingly, the chapter on the Donner Party (probably the most famous real life story of human cannibalism) was one of the least interesting, bogged down in logistics.