By Brooke Borel. Chicago (Illinois): University of Chicago Press. $26.00. xvi + 259 p.; ill.; index. ISBN: 978-0-226-04193-3 (hc); 978-0-226-04209-1 (eb). 2015.
With its cover showing a severely infested mattress and pages within having printed bed bugs scattered throughout the book, my first impression was this would become a diatribe of trials and tribulations caused by the attack by bed bugs on one person's physical and psychological well-being. Certainly, after 14-plus years of discussing bed bugs with the general public, there are many people in society who could probably write substantial volumes solely on their own suffering and in trying to rid themselves of this pest. However, I was pleasantly surprised how Borel easily moves us from her own outrage and personal strife to a more inquisitive approach to the history, science, and social impact of this insect. This becomes a very nice example of entomological "edutainment" similar to the books by Lockwood (2005. Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of the Insect that Shaped the American Frontier. New York: Basic Books) or Murphy (2003. An American Plague: The True and Terrifying Stony of the Yellow Fever Epidemic of 1793. New York: Clarion Books).
There are people who find this insect and its unique behaviors fascinating. The author introduces us to several colorful characters involved with bed bugs, including the central figure in the bed bug world: Robert Usinger. She also introduces bed bug researchers such as Harold Harlan, Dini Miller, and Michael Siva-Jothy, and businessman David Cain. Along with interviews from other researchers and government personnel, a story is developed from the initial decline and period of absence, to the eventual resurgence of bed bugs, to the attempts to understand this pest. Throughout the volume, a suspense develops, as bed bugs continually seem to "dog her steps" as she travels to visit these people and locations.
One disappointing part of the book was in the appendix, where Borel provides an opinion about bed bug control if someone were to ask her for advice. She suggests that once an infestation has started, the reader would be subject to a protracted period of unnecessary worry, work, and waiting to see if bed bugs are successfully removed from living spaces. This does not have to occur, and her comments, particularly of the limitations of heat treatments, seem exaggerated. Despite this minor issue, this volume will have good utility for academics and students by illustrating the complex interactions between a resurging insect pest and society. This book is also of value to for those in the general public seeking a deeper understanding how society copes with the fear and loathing of a nest parasite that attacks people in their own homes.
By Stephen A. Kells
