From acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach comes the complete collection of her âMy Planetâ articles published in Readerâs Digest. She was a hit columnist in the magazine, and this book features the articles she wrote in that time. Insightful and hilarious, Mary explores the ins and outs of the modern world: marriage, friends, family, food, technology, customer service, dental floss, and antsâshe leaves no element of the American experience unchecked for its inherent paradoxes, pleasures, and foibles.
On Cleanliness: Ed has crud vision, and I donât. I donât notice filth. Ed sees it everywhere. I am reasonably convinced that Ed can actually see bacteria. . . . He confessed he didnât like me using his bathrobe because Iâd wear it while sitting on the toilet. âItâs not like it goes in the water,â I protested, though if you counted the sash as part of the robe, this wasnât strictly true.
On the Internet: The Internet is a boon for hypochondriacs like me. Right now, for instance, Iâm feeling a shooting pain on the side of my neck. A Web search produces five matches, the first three for a condition called Arnold-Chiari Malformation. While my husband, Ed, reads over my shoulder, I recite symptoms from the list. ââGeneral clumsinessâ and âgeneral imbalance,ââ I say, as though announcing arrivals at the Marine Corps Ball. ââDifficulty driving,â âlack of taste,â âdifficulty feeling feet on ground.ââ âThose arenât symptoms,â says Ed. âThose are your character flaws.â On Fashion: My husband recently made me try on a bikini. A bikini is not so much a garment as a cloth-based reminder that your parts have been migrating all these years. My waist, I realized that day in the dressing ro
From acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach comes the complete collection of her âMy Planetâ articles published in Readerâs Digest. She was a hit columnist in the magazine, and this book features the articles she wrote in that time. Insightful and hilarious, Mary explores the ins and outs of the modern world: marriage, friends, family, food, technology, customer service, dental floss, and antsâshe leaves no element of the American experience unchecked for its inherent paradoxes, pleasures, and foibles.
On Cleanliness: Ed has crud vision, and I donât. I donât notice filth. Ed sees it everywhere. I am reasonably convinced that Ed can actually see bacteria. . . . He confessed he didnât like me using his bathrobe because Iâd wear it while sitting on the toilet. âItâs not like it goes in the water,â I protested, though if you counted the sash as part of the robe, this wasnât strictly true.
On the Internet: The Internet is a boon for hypochondriacs like me. Right now, for instance, Iâm feeling a shooting pain on the side of my neck. A Web search produces five matches, the first three for a condition called Arnold-Chiari Malformation. While my husband, Ed, reads over my shoulder, I recite symptoms from the list. ââGeneral clumsinessâ and âgeneral imbalance,ââ I say, as though announcing arrivals at the Marine Corps Ball. ââDifficulty driving,â âlack of taste,â âdifficulty feeling feet on ground.ââ âThose arenât symptoms,â says Ed. âThose are your character flaws.â On Fashion: My husband recently made me try on a bikini. A bikini is not so much a garment as a cloth-based reminder that your parts have been migrating all these years. My waist, I realized that day in the dressing ro