Living Things We Love to Hate: Facts, Fantasies and Fallacies

Marcia Sweet, former editor of the Queen’s Quarterly, is an
information consultant and freelance editor.

This science-based classic is as relevant today as it was 10 years ago
when it was originally published. The author profiles 19 remarkable
plants and animals with which humans have had an important, but often
difficult, relation. In clear and evocative detail, the author describes
the intimate lives of wood decomposers and other “uglies” of the
Earth, explaining the vital contribution they make to human existence.
He entertains us with descriptions of his own (often frustrating)
encounters with his subjects. And he provides practical and non-brutal
suggestions for dealing with the spillover of nature into our
“civilized” lives. Although Living Things We Love to Hate is aimed
at adults, the accounts of the origins, life cycles, food chains, and
sex lives of these life forms will appeal to the interested young
person.