I decided to run a little experiment of my own while reading Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Mary Roach’s latest monolexically titled popular-science essay collection. I put a checkmark in the margins whenever I came across something interesting: a new anecdote to tell at parties, a sharply observed detail, or even just a particularly well-turned phrase I might try to steal someday. I made more than 400 marks over 253 pages (not including the three chapters I read on the bus). There’s a reason for this: Grunt isn’t a textbook masquerading as creative nonfiction, but a legitimately enjoyable romp through the back alleys of military science.
And back alleys they are. Do not go into Grunt expecting the kinetic energy of tank shells or the fire rate of assault rifles. As Roach notes in the introduction, the guns that most interest her are the kind that shoot frozen chickens at airplane windscreens, not the kind that shoot bullets (though the traumatic effects of the latter are explored in detail). Which is to say about half the chapters cover squicky medical stuff, like “a salute to genital transplants” and the fight against “military diarrhea.” When it comes to other areas of inquiry, Roach casts a wider net, getting into the history of deployable malodorants (stink bombs) and how best to escape a sinking submarine (carefully).