Cockroach by Marion Copeland, Reaktion Books, £12.95, ISBN 186189192X Reviewed by Mike Holderness
A BUNCH of books on beasts arrives: Ant, …I pick Cockroach as the biggest challenge to a populariser. The mere thought of a cockroach turns even vegan pacifists murderous. Ask them about “rights for roaches” and you’ll get a squirmish stare. But former English professor Marion Copeland almost manages to make me like them.
Literary roaches help her, from Kafka’s metamorphosed Gregor Samsa to the lower-case typist of archie and mehitabel. Unlike rats and fleas, Copeland says, roaches have no specific association with disease – though she…
