Editors Reads Verdict
Roach's most politically charged book — the subject makes it impossible to stay fully deadpan — but her method is intact. The military science she covers is genuinely fascinating and largely invisible to civilian readers.
What We Loved
- The specificity of the research she covers — genital reconstruction surgery, heat acclimatisation, shark repellent — is consistently surprising
- Roach's access to military research facilities gives the book material unavailable elsewhere
- The scientists interviewed are, as usual, illuminated as people rather than just experts
Minor Drawbacks
- The military context is harder to treat as pure comedy than corpses or sex research
- Some readers feel the book's acceptance of military premises sits uneasily with its comedic register
Key Takeaways
- → Military medicine drives civilian medical advances at a rate that is rarely acknowledged
- → The gap between what soldiers need and what procurement systems provide is a recurring theme across all branches
- → Diarrhea and heat exhaustion kill and disable more soldiers than combat in most modern conflicts
| Author | Mary Roach |
|---|---|
| Publisher | W. W. Norton |
| Pages | 285 |
| Published | June 1, 2016 |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Popular Science, Non-Fiction, Humor |
| Difficulty | Beginner |
| Best For | Readers of Roach's other books who want her applied to military science, or readers interested in the practical science of keeping humans alive in extreme conditions. |
The Science Nobody Writes About
Military research covers a remarkable range of problems: how to keep uniforms from growing bacteria in hot climates, how to reduce the acoustic damage caused by IED blasts, how to develop food that soldiers will actually eat in the field, how to perform reconstructive surgery on injuries caused by weapons designed to cause maximum damage at minimum cost.
Mary Roach spent time embedded with military research labs and the scientists who work in them. Grunt is the result — a tour through the most unglamorous aspects of military science, all of it in service of keeping people alive rather than killing them. Roach’s characteristic deadpan is present throughout, though the subject occasionally strains it.
The Human Cost
The genital reconstruction chapter — which deals with the specific trauma caused by IEDs in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the blast pattern causes severe lower-body injury — is the book’s most serious section. The surgeons Roach interviews are matter-of-fact about procedures that are genuinely extraordinary, and Roach is uncharacteristically quiet in their company. It is a measure of the book’s integrity that she does not reach for comedy when the subject doesn’t support it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is "Grunt" about?
Mary Roach investigates the science behind military research — the labs, researchers, and experimental programs working on problems of survival in combat. Chapters cover uniforms that resist bacteria, the acoustics of IED blasts, the psychology of diarrhea in the field, and the science of keeping soldiers alive in increasingly hostile conditions.
Who should read "Grunt"?
Readers of Roach's other books who want her applied to military science, or readers interested in the practical science of keeping humans alive in extreme conditions.
What are the key takeaways from "Grunt"?
Military medicine drives civilian medical advances at a rate that is rarely acknowledged The gap between what soldiers need and what procurement systems provide is a recurring theme across all branches Diarrhea and heat exhaustion kill and disable more soldiers than combat in most modern conflicts
Is "Grunt" worth reading?
Roach's most politically charged book — the subject makes it impossible to stay fully deadpan — but her method is intact. The military science she covers is genuinely fascinating and largely invisible to civilian readers.
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