When you need to know why fish fart

OK, chances are no one ever needs to know why fish fart. But those interested in such odd factoids -- who might gleefully explain that the bubbles coming from the backside of a cod are not technically farts but those near a herring's are -- will find Francesca Gould's new book "Why Fish Fart & Other Useless or Gross Information About the World" is just what they've been waiting for.

Chock-full of anecdotes, the book is divided into not-your-usual-table-talk chapters: "obscene cuisine," "weird creatures," "vile bodies," "pernicious practices," "disgusting diseases, curious cures, and savage tortures." Not all the blurbs are entirely revelatory -- you've probably heard that Aztecs practiced human sacrifice and that jackals regurgitate to feed their young. But many are strange enough to keep the curious paging through for the next curiosity.  Here's a super-truncated version:

Q: What is the world's tastiest insect?
A: This is a matter of taste, but the author recommends the Australian Honey ant, which "stores so much of a sugary fluid in its body that its hind end swells up into a ball that is big enough to eat. ... They say it's just like eating honey, only crunchier."

Q: Can it really rain frogs and fish?
A: Yes.

Q: Could cat ear mites live in a human ear?
A: Yes, and eww, a doctor experimented on himself.

Q: How clean is your toothbrush?
A: Don't ask.

Gould, whose first book was "Why You Shouldn't Eat Your Boogers and Other Useless (or Gross) Information About Your Body," has a knack for making the gross, um, digestible reading. It's a fun little book, if not for everyone.

As for those farting herrings? The escaping air emits a high-pitched sound that scientists think is used to communicate with other herrings at night. No other fish can detect the noise of their emissions: The herring farts are silent (if not deadly) .

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Hog heaven: Michael Perry's 'Coop'

Michael Perry lives in rural Wisconsin on a farm with his wife, two daughters, a vintage truck and an assortment of animals, which he writes about in "Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting." He explains in an interview with Powell's that he's not running a big professional farming operation.

I think we're doing what a lot of folks are — getting a few chickens, getting a few pigs, just trying to raise more and more of our own food. And we're not at the cutting edge of this; you look at people like Barbara Kingsolver, Michael Pollan — these are the people who are really leading us.... I'm sort of writing about the rest of us, who are trying to figure out a way to incorporate these things into our day-to-day lives while probably, truth be told, paying the rent mostly through other efforts.

But what's encouraging is that I'm seeing more and more of it. This idea that you have to be just a farmer or just a writer is kind of a new thing. If you look back a few decades, the plumber used to have a few chickens in the back yard. It's not about becoming a farmer; it's about incorporating those things into the rest of your life.

Powell's asks with some horror about pigs -- apparently they'll eat humans, if it appears that humans are  what's for lunch. "Yes, they're omnivorous, and that includes you," Perry says. "It's nothing personal; the pig's just hungry. And to be fair to the pig, I don't know why we're shocked about them eating us when many of us quite happily eat them."

Tending pigs and chickens is pretty time-consuming, which doesn't always jive with a writer's schedule. Perry, who can write for 16 hours at a stretch, also volunteers as a local emergency responder and plays in a band. And this spring he'll be busier than usual, as his long list of appearances will take him across Wisconsin and the Pacific Northwest -- leaving his wife holding the feedbag.

-- Carolyn Kellogg

Photo: The Pug Father via Flickr

Books and dogs: a happy tail

In November, we posted a series of pictures that showed that books and cats, happy together, which some of you found charming. But not all -- one person called it "porn for freaky cat-loving literature fiends." Well, it's about time for some doggie payback. As you can see, books and dogs go together just as well as books and cats. 

There are the self-help dogs ...

There are dogs who read Booker-nominated novels ...

more books and dogs after the jump.

Books and cats: a love affair in photos

There are legions of people who love books, and who love cats, and have a habit of photographing them together. You may like books and not like cats; I know it's possible. But this post, my friends, is not for you. This post is for people who think that Pippen, above, is awfully cute when confronting the "Omnivore's Dilemma." As is Jamila, below.

The Bible seems to be putting Jamila to sleep. Of course, this can happen with any book, even "Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity." Looks like the cat, Ahchan, has gotten the "stress-free" part down.

Even the wham! bam! pow! of Marvel comics can't keep this store cat awake.

But tiny little Cayley is ready to tackle a very big book.

Happy bookish cats from the world over, plus photo credits, after the jump.