几乎没有人不恨蟑螂，正所谓，知己知彼，百战百胜。看了这本书，让你更了解这个怎么都杀不完的敌人。但是，了解后，牠们真的还会是敌人吗？
 
蟑螂自古以来就是一个来无影去无踪却处处可见的都市传说，而且从以前就被人们恨之入骨。百万年来，即便人蟑之间的战争已经发展成“高规格”的化学战，蟑螂的基本设计还是始终如一：六只脚、高感触须、贪婪的下颚。但Richard Schweid这本《蟑螂报告》让我们知道，虽然这些进化过的超级巨星里，有些物种确实会让污染我们的厨房和餐厅，加剧我们的气喘并带来疾病，但基本上，我们认为牠们很邪恶这件事，还是搞错了。
 
Schweid 结合自己旅经纽约市、路易西安那州、墨西哥、尼加拉瓜和摩洛哥时，引诱蟑螂的经验和细腻的研究，编织成一个幽默又悲惨的故事。Schweid 进一步调查蟑螂和人类（尤其是住在社会边缘的人）之间的恶劣互动时，他也发现到蟑螂惊人的多样性，牠们交配的方式、进食的方式，以及我们怎么描述牠们（作家Kafka与Nelson Algren还有archy and mehitabel报纸专栏） 原有的认知很快变成了敬重，Schweid 跨越自己的恐惧，求得一个令人不舒服的事实：跟这些会涌进我们心底黑暗角落、家里与麦片盒的小家伙比起来，我们人类一点也不和平、不爱干净、不爱护地球，也不爱护彼此。
 
好评
“Nature’s evolutionary success story, the indestructible cockroach, gets the full treatment in Schweid’s zesty survey of roach fact and fancy. . . . Loathe cockroaches if you must, grind them underfoot. But it is the time-tested roach, Schweid makes clear, who will have the last laugh.”
(Kirkus)
 
“Schweid blends both roach fact and fiction into an engaging, perceptive profile of our strange, and occasionally literal, bedfellows.”
(Discover)
 
“Schweid gives the cockroach a long cold look and keeps looking when most of us would turn away, until a subject that seemed disgusting becomes fascinating. Now I have nothing but admiration for cockroaches. Which is why I’ve taken to sleeping in gloves and boots.”
(Pete Wells Salon.com)
 
“Schweid manages to provide a lot of technical information concerning the life and times of cockroaches and at the same time anecdotal stories of his own life . . . . He has done his homework. . . . Other authors have discussed other insects (Vincent Dethier on flies, Bernd Heinrich on bumblebees, and E. O. Wilson on ants), but not in the same way as Schweid covers cockroaches. The book is for all readers.”
(L. T. Spencer, Plymouth State College Choice)
 
“Schweid . . . begins his compendium with an autobiographical incident making it clear that the history and lore of the cockroach he presents is, unlike others, personal as well as intellectual. He emphasizes that the cockroach has influenced and will continue to influence his (and hence all human) lives just as humans have influenced the lives of cockroaches worldwide—and especially those of the six species who share our homes. . . . That insight may at least give his reader pause before he stomps on or sprays another roach!”
(Marion W. Copeland, Tufts Center for Animals and Public Policy H-Nilas)
 
关于作者
Richard Schweid 是一名住在巴塞隆纳的记者和纪录片导演。同时也是一名作家，作品包括：Hereafter: Searching for Immortality和Eel。最近期的作品是Octopus。