-
Fuzz
- When Nature Breaks the Law
- Narrated by: Mary Roach
- Length: 9 hrs and 17 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $25.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Grunt
- The Curious Science of Humans at War
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Abby Elvidge
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise - and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper.
-
-
Audiobook reader ruins the experience
- By Timothy on 12-02-16
By: Mary Roach
-
Packing for Mars
- The Curious Science of Life in the Void
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour?
-
-
Everything You Always Wanted to Know - and More
- By Roy on 09-22-10
By: Mary Roach
-
Evil Roman Emperors
- The Shocking History of Ancient Rome's Most Wicked Rulers from Caligula to Nero and More
- By: Phillip Barlag
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome's rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became.
-
-
Brisket and nu potato
- By Anonymous User on 06-27-21
By: Phillip Barlag
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
-
I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By Linda on 11-11-12
By: Mary Roach
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
How does one make Kaiju unappealing?
- By Jim on 03-20-22
By: John Scalzi
-
Greek Mythology
- Myths and Legends: Discover the Greatest Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters from Ancient Greece. Use the Power of Hercules to Cross the Sea of Poseidon and Defeat Ares!
- By: Nathan Mendoza
- Narrated by: John Baker, Mark Nelson, Daniel Perez, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Get to know the Greek gods and goddesses, from the mighty Zeus to the temperamental Poseidon, the beautiful Aphrodite, and every character from A to Z. Who wouldn't want to hear about Zeus and his command of lightning, Hades and how he found his bride, the wisdom of Athena, and so many other stories that capture the imagination.
-
-
Updated version of the most famous Greek myths
- By Luise Vans on 06-04-21
By: Nathan Mendoza
-
Grunt
- The Curious Science of Humans at War
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Abby Elvidge
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Grunt tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries - panic, exhaustion, heat, noise - and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Mary Roach dodges hostile fire with the U.S. Marine Corps Paintball Team as part of a study on hearing loss and survivability in combat. She visits the fashion design studio of U.S. Army Natick Labs and learns why a zipper is a problem for a sniper.
-
-
Audiobook reader ruins the experience
- By Timothy on 12-02-16
By: Mary Roach
-
Packing for Mars
- The Curious Science of Life in the Void
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Space is a world devoid of the things we need to live and thrive: air, gravity, hot showers, fresh produce, privacy, beer. Space exploration is in some ways an exploration of what it means to be human. How much can a person give up? How much weirdness can they take? What happens to you when you can’t walk for a year? Have sex? Smell flowers? What happens if you vomit in your helmet during a space walk? Is it possible for the human body to survive a bailout at 17,000 miles per hour?
-
-
Everything You Always Wanted to Know - and More
- By Roy on 09-22-10
By: Mary Roach
-
Evil Roman Emperors
- The Shocking History of Ancient Rome's Most Wicked Rulers from Caligula to Nero and More
- By: Phillip Barlag
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Roman history, from the very foundation of the city, is replete with people and stories that shock our modern sensibilities. Evil Roman Emperors puts the worst of Rome's rulers in one place and offers a review of their lives and a historical context for what made them into what they became.
-
-
Brisket and nu potato
- By Anonymous User on 06-27-21
By: Phillip Barlag
-
Stiff
- The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
- By: Mary Roach
- Narrated by: Shelly Frasier
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For two thousand years, cadavers have been involved in science's boldest strides and weirdest undertakings. They've tested France's first guillotines, ridden the NASA Space Shuttle, been crucified in a Parisian laboratory to test the authenticity of the Shroud of Turin, and helped solve the mystery of TWA Flight 800. For every new surgical procedure, from heart transplants to gender reassignment surgery, cadavers have been there alongside surgeons, making history in their quiet way.
-
-
I worked with cadavers for years, but....
- By Linda on 11-11-12
By: Mary Roach
-
The Kaiju Preservation Society
- By: John Scalzi
- Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
- Length: 8 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When COVID-19 sweeps through New York City, Jamie Gray is stuck as a dead-end driver for food-delivery apps. That is, until Jamie makes a delivery to an old acquaintance, Tom, who works at what he calls “an animal rights organization”. Tom’s team needs a last-minute grunt to handle things on their next field visit. Jamie, eager to do anything, immediately signs on. What Tom doesn't tell Jamie is that the animals his team cares for are not here on Earth. Not our Earth, at at least. In an alternate dimension, dinosaur-like creatures named Kaiju roam a warm and human-free world.
-
-
How does one make Kaiju unappealing?
- By Jim on 03-20-22
By: John Scalzi
-
Greek Mythology
- Myths and Legends: Discover the Greatest Gods, Goddesses, Heroes, and Monsters from Ancient Greece. Use the Power of Hercules to Cross the Sea of Poseidon and Defeat Ares!
- By: Nathan Mendoza
- Narrated by: John Baker, Mark Nelson, Daniel Perez, and others
- Length: 19 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Get to know the Greek gods and goddesses, from the mighty Zeus to the temperamental Poseidon, the beautiful Aphrodite, and every character from A to Z. Who wouldn't want to hear about Zeus and his command of lightning, Hades and how he found his bride, the wisdom of Athena, and so many other stories that capture the imagination.
-
-
Updated version of the most famous Greek myths
- By Luise Vans on 06-04-21
By: Nathan Mendoza
-
Music Is History
- By: Ahmir Khalib Thompson, Questlove
- Narrated by: Questlove
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author and Sundance award-winning director Questlove harnesses his encyclopedic knowledge of popular music and his deep curiosity about history to examine America over the past 50 years. Choosing one essential track from each year, Questlove unpacks each song’s significance, revealing the pivotal role that American music plays around issues of race, gender, politics, and identity.
-
-
This would be better read than listened to
- By HomeChef on 11-05-21
By: Ahmir Khalib Thompson, and others
-
Killer Triggers
- By: Joe Kenda
- Narrated by: Joe Kenda
- Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The most common triggers for homicide are fear, rage, revenge, money, lust, and, more rarely, sheer madness. This isn’t an exact science, of course. Any given murder can have multiple triggers. Sex and revenge seem to be common partners in crime. This book offers my memories of homicide cases that I investigated or oversaw. In each case, I examine the trigger that led to death. I chose this theme for the book because even though the why of a murder case may not be critical in an investigation, it can sometimes lead us to the killer.
-
-
Joe Kenda is always fun.
- By Jackson Theofore Keys on 03-10-21
By: Joe Kenda
-
Poet Warrior
- A Memoir
- By: Joy Harjo
- Narrated by: Joy Harjo
- Length: 5 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Joy Harjo, the first Native American to serve as US poet laureate, invites us to travel along the heartaches, losses, and humble realizations of her "poet-warrior" road. A musical, kaleidoscopic, and wise follow-up to Crazy Brave, Poet Warrior reveals how Harjo came to write poetry of compassion and healing, poetry with the power to unearth the truth and demand justice.
-
-
A wonderful spiritual journey!
- By Amazon Customer on 02-19-22
By: Joy Harjo
-
The Body
- A Guide for Occupants
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Bill Bryson
- Length: 14 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bill Bryson once again proves himself to be an incomparable companion as he guides us through the human body - how it functions, its remarkable ability to heal itself, and (unfortunately) the ways it can fail. Full of extraordinary facts (your body made a million red blood cells since you started reading this) and irresistible Bryson-esque anecdotes, The Body will lead you to a deeper understanding of the miracle that is life in general and you in particular. As Bill Bryson writes, "We pass our existence within this wobble of flesh and yet take it almost entirely for granted."
-
-
Must Read for the Sheer Fun of It
- By J.B. on 10-16-19
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Icepick Surgeon
- Murder, Fraud, Sabotage, Piracy, and Other Dastardly Deeds Perpetrated in the Name of Science
- By: Sam Kean
- Narrated by: Ben Sullivan
- Length: 11 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Science is a force for good in the world—at least usually. But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.
-
-
FANTASTIC! & What’s up with all these naysayers (negative reviewers)?!
- By H. Zophie Leslea on 08-19-21
By: Sam Kean
-
Crusade for Justice
- The Autobiography of Ida B. Wells
- By: Ida B. Wells, Alfreda M. Duster - editor
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ida B. Wells is an American icon of truth telling. Born to slaves, she was a pioneer of investigative journalism, a crusader against lynching, and a tireless advocate for suffrage, both for women and for African Americans. She cofounded the NAACP, started the Alpha Suffrage Club in Chicago, and was a leader in the early civil rights movement. This engaging memoir relates Wells’ private life as a mother as well as her public activities as a teacher, lecturer, and journalist in her fight for equality and justice.
-
-
Important person, sing-song narration
- By Judith Evans on 03-05-22
By: Ida B. Wells, and others
-
Gory Details
- By: Erika Engelhaupt
- Narrated by: Mari Weiss
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Filled to the brim with far-out facts, this wickedly informative narrative from the author of National Geographic's popular Gory Details blog takes us on a fascinating journey through an astonishing new reality. Blending humor and journalism in the tradition of Mary Roach, acclaimed science reporter Erika Engelhaupt investigates the gross, strange, and morbid absurdities of our bodies and our universe.
-
-
Entertaining, educational, and unique!
- By Ashlee on 06-27-21
By: Erika Engelhaupt
-
On Animals
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 10 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“How we interact with animals has preoccupied philosophers, poets, and naturalists for ages,” writes Susan Orlean. Since the age of six, when Orlean wrote and illustrated a book called Herbert the Near-Sighted Pigeon, she’s been drawn to stories about how we live with animals, and how they abide by us. Now, in On Animals, she examines animal-human relationships through the compelling tales she has written over the course of her celebrated career.
-
-
Learned so Much from this Work
- By Birdman on 10-18-21
By: Susan Orlean
-
Poison for Breakfast
- By: Lemony Snicket
- Narrated by: Patrick Warburton
- Length: 3 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This true story - as true as Lemony Snicket himself - begins with a puzzling note under his door: You had poison for breakfast. Following a winding trail of clues to solve the mystery of his own demise, Snicket takes us on a thought-provoking tour of his predilections: the proper way to prepare an egg, a perplexing idea called “tzimtzum”, the sublime pleasure of swimming in open water, and much else.
-
-
Daringly Erratic
- By Jacob Schwartz on 09-06-21
By: Lemony Snicket
-
Blink
- The Power of Thinking Without Thinking
- By: Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In his landmark best seller The Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell redefined how we understand the world around us. Now, in Blink, he revolutionizes the way we understand the world within. Blink is a book about how we think without thinking, about choices that seem to be made in an instant, in the blink of an eye, that actually aren't as simple as they seem. Why are some people brilliant decision makers, while others are consistently inept?
-
-
A great communicator
- By J Kaufman on 06-18-09
By: Malcolm Gladwell
-
Buzz, Sting, Bite
- Why We Need Insects
- By: Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson
- Narrated by: Kristin Millward
- Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthusiastic, witty, and informative introduction to the world of insects and why we - and the planet we inhabit - could not survive without them.
-
-
Obnoxious narration
- By Caleb E. on 02-24-20
-
Cat Tale
- The Wild, Weird Battle to Save the Florida Panther
- By: Craig Pittman
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It wasn’t so long ago when a lot of people thought the Florida panther was extinct. They were very nearly right. That the panther still exists at all is a miracle - the result of a desperate experiment that led to the most remarkable comeback in the history of the Endangered Species Act. And no one has told the whole story - until now.
-
-
Cautionary tale
- By Kaysi12 on 02-27-20
By: Craig Pittman
Interview: Mary Roach Investigates Science's Funniest, Strangest Corners
Publisher's Summary
One of Audible's Best of 2021
AudioFile Magazine's Best Audiobooks of 2021
An Instant New York Times Bestseller
#1 Los Angeles Times Bestseller
#1 Indie Hardcover Nonfiction Bestseller
A Washington Post and Publishers Weekly Best Nonfiction Book of 2021
Longlisted for the 2022 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
Join "America’s funniest science writer" (Peter Carlson, Washington Post), Mary Roach, on an irresistible investigation into the unpredictable world where wildlife and humans meet.
What’s to be done about a jaywalking moose? A bear caught breaking and entering? A murderous tree? Three hundred years ago, animals that broke the law would be assigned legal representation and put on trial. These days, as New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach discovers, the answers are best found not in jurisprudence but in science: the curious science of human-wildlife conflict, a discipline at the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology.
Roach tags along with animal-attack forensics investigators, human-elephant conflict specialists, bear managers, and "danger tree" faller blasters. Intrepid as ever, she travels from leopard-terrorized hamlets in the Indian Himalaya to St. Peter’s Square in the early hours before the pope arrives for Easter Mass, when vandal gulls swoop in to destroy the elaborate floral display. She taste-tests rat bait, learns how to install a vulture effigy, and gets mugged by a macaque.
Combining little-known forensic science and conservation genetics with a motley cast of laser scarecrows, langur impersonators, and trespassing squirrels, Roach reveals as much about humanity as about nature’s lawbreakers. When it comes to "problem" wildlife, she finds, humans are more often the problem - and the solution. Fascinating, witty, and humane, Fuzz offers hope for compassionate coexistence in our ever-expanding human habitat.
Critic Reviews
“Roach is an observant and witty writer with an eye for detail and a passion for facts. As it turns out, she is also a remarkably skilled narrator with a pleasant mid-range voice. She reads with verve, and her phrasing and pacing keep the text moving while enabling our laughter or stunned amazement. Roach also re-creates accents, conversations, and speech patterns like the best mimic. What a delightful and informative listen.” (AudioFile Magazine, Earphones Award Winner)
"An idiosyncratic tour with Roach as the wisecracking, ever-probing guide... My favorite moments, ultimately, weren’t the funny ones, but those that reveal a bit of scientific poetry." (Vicki Constantine Croke, New York Times Book Review)
"Bestseller Roach sheds light on nature’s malefactors in this often funny, always provocative survey...Roach’s writing is wry, full of heart, and loaded with intriguing facts...This eminently entertaining outing is another winner from Roach." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

Editor's Pick
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about Fuzz
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jimmyjoejangles
- 09-16-21
Footnotes.
I guess none of her other books had footnotes. Or the reader integrated them into the reading. This method of all them at the end was a little off putting.
24 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alex
- 09-24-21
The footnotes
Just like all of Mary Roaches books this is so well researched,interesting and funny. The only thing I didn't care for in this recording is that the footnotes were not read as they appear in the text as with other audio versions of her works.
21 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Marsha L. Woerner
- 11-02-21
Life is ,unfortunately, not so easy!
(As posted in Goodreads)
The beginning of the book was what I expected: animals that are an annoyance to humans and how we deal with them. She went through several species that are well known problems. And the question is raised – partly by Mary Roach and partly by the reader – what gives us the power to decide who gets to prevail in such cases.
Then she gets into trees and other plants and how our societies build poisons from them! This section really seems somewhat unrelated to the overall point, but oh well.
The ending section addresses pests and invasive species. And the same question does seem to arise: what gives us the rights to decide what animals are allowed and who can run the environment?
I like Mary Roach; I own several of her books, and both my husband and I get a kick out of her and appreciate the knowledge and science that she shares. The last section spends a great deal of time addressing humane and nonlethal approaches to controlling – or trying to help control our environment, and I appreciate the fact that she points out that the simplest way, the seemingly most humane way, is NOT always the way to go. Why are there so many different opinions on so many things? Because nothing's as simple as many would like it to be.
12 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- aaron
- 09-23-21
Mary is (almost) a female Bill Bryson!
Mary Roach is basically eight tenths of Bill Bryson in every regard as a writer and narrator. She's nearly as dryly witty, nearly as hilarious, and nearly as creative.
In this case, "nearly" is perfectly admirable.
It's like saying a person is nearly as good a boxer as Mike Tyson was at his pinnacle of success.
There is no other Bill Bryson, but for the time being, and if you've burned through all of Bryson's books, you should definitely check this one out. You won't be disappointed at all.
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Susan Marie Methvin
- 09-21-21
Fuzz is most entertaining
Loved this book! Not only humorous but educational as well! Love the authors sense of humor! Definitely will recommend this read!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- brad evers
- 10-01-21
boring
I don't know but I was just bored. I tried to like it but it just wasn't there for me.
7 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Kymberly Fox
- 10-10-21
Just when it’s needed
Mary Roach knows just when to lighten the mood on subjects that might otherwise bring me to tears. I wasn’t sure I’d make it through a book that I knew would involve animals dying, but she pulled it off.
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matt
- 12-06-21
Clever, witty, must read.
The delivery of jokes and jabs is impressive. The subject matter could have easily been dry and unappealing but this was such an enjoyable listen. Learned a lot, and was ultimately sad it ended so soon.
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Heather Breslin
- 11-28-21
Another excellent Mary Roach book!
Ms. Roach covers the topic of how to interact with wildlife from a legal perspective very thoroughly; and I mean thoroughly. Each new chapter found her in some other corner of the world talking to people in depth and I found myself impressed with the detail of her research. Despite the detail, what could be a pedantic textbook is instead a delightful look at how we interact with animals in our domain and the complicated feelings it provokes. Very enjoyable!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- thurman r.
- 02-09-22
If you haven’t read or listened to Mary Roach you should
Great book, Roach always seems to pull you into the scene like you’re in the middle of whatever weird side of society you didn’t know existed.
2 people found this helpful