Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History by Bill Schutt

When I saw Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History on display at the bookshop a couple of months ago, I was instantly intrigued. I don't read a whole lot of nonfiction, but this one, with it's picture of a frog calmly eating another frog on the cover, really caught my eye. The inside flap promised an exploration of the stomach-churning practice of cannibalism, highlighting all sorts of species and cultures. It also happened to have a subtitle, making it a good choice for my Popsugar Reading Challenge. I decided to give it a shot and see if I could learn some interesting facts about this taboo and intriguing concept.

The novel is organized into 19 chapters, with each one focusing on a different aspect of cannibalism. The first handful of chapters concern mainly animals, with Schutt describing how some tadpoles, insects, and other creatures eat their siblings, mates, competitors, or progeny for reasons ranging from
decreasing competition for resources to increasing their ability to pass their genes on. He also dispels some popular myths about cannibalism in the animal kingdom, such as the false idea that female black widow spiders always eat their mates (as it turns out, this behavior has been greatly exaggerated). As the subtitle of the novel suggests, Schutt asserts that cannibalism among animals is a natural behavior triggered by certain environmental conditions. He also believes that it is more widespread than many scientists have believed in the past, which is a somewhat contentious claim to make.

After the animal chapters, Schutt explores cannibalism among humans, with chapters on topics such as the Donner Party, Pacific Island cannibalism and Kuru, the use of human parts in traditional medicines, and the modern trend of women consuming their own placentas. He also includes a set of chapters titled "Eating People is Bad" and "Eating People is Good," in which he explores how the current taboo surrounding cannibalism formed in Western culture and how cultures that developed without this taboo view the practice. While some of the chapters get a bit gory, he steers away from discussing famous man-eating criminals such as Ed Gein and Jeffrey Dahmer out of respect for their victims. Indeed, the whole tone of the novel sticks to the scientific instead of the sensational, which is a plus or a minus depending on what a reader wants out of the book. By the end of his examination of human cannibalism, Schutt concludes that in times of desperation, humans will turn to cannibalism like most other creatures, but cultures that regularly engage in this practice are rare.

Despite the inherently intriguing subject matter, this novel was a bit of a tough read for me. While parts of it were very interesting and it was obviously meticulously researched, other parts of it meandered and seemed almost pointless to include. For example, Schutt includes chapters on Neanderthals and dinosaurs, two creatures so old that no argument for cannibalism among them could ever be scientifically proven. Also, a couple of his chapters are only about ten pages in length, meaning that there really wasn't much to say on some of his chosen topics. Why bother to waste the pages on them? I felt like the overall purpose behind this book was occasionally lost as it hopped around from subject to subject. At times, I grew bored.

Schutt's humor also largely missed the mark for me. It seems like he was going for a Mary Roach vibe with this book, meaning that he was attempting to mix scientific information with jokes and sarcasm to entertain the reader while teaching them something new. However, a lot of his jokes fell flat for me. At times, he seemed a bit mean-spirited and overly flippant, especially when he visited the placenta-eating advocate, whom he seemed to think was quite silly. He did try her placenta though, so I can't say he didn't give her way of life an honest shot. For a better example of a nonfiction book that successfully mixed humor and information, I would take Stiff: The Curious Life of Human Cadavers over Cannibalism.

Ultimately, even though I didn't completely enjoy the novel, I'm still glad I read it. I certainly know a lot more now about cannibalism than I did before, which I suppose was Bill Schutt's goal. I do wish that it was a bit more engaging, but it was definitely a unique reading experience that will stick with me for a while.


Challenge Tally
Popsugar Challenge: (a book with a subtitle) 26/40