Writers on a New England Stage to Welcome GRUNT Author Mary Roach, 6/30

On Thursday, June 30, the bestselling author of Packing for Mars, Stiff, and Gulp will take the stage at The Music Hall to present her new work, GRUNT: The Curious Science of Humans at War. Author Mary Roach will explore the curious science of keeping human beings intact, awake, sane, uninfected, and uninfested in the bizarre and extreme circumstances of war.

The 7pm event includes an author presentation followed by an onstage interview with Virginia Prescott, host of New Hampshire Public Radio's "Word of Mouth." It will be held at The Music Hall's Historic Theater at 28 Chestnut Street, in downtown Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

GRUNT tackles the science behind some of a soldier's most challenging adversaries-panic, exhaustion, heat, ?flies, ?noise-and introduces us to the scientists who seek to conquer them. Roach answers questions not found in any other book on the military: Why is DARPA interested in ducks? How is a wedding gown like a bomb suit? Why are shrimp more dangerous to sailors than sharks? Take a tour of duty with Roach, and you'll never see our nation's defenders in the same way again.

Said Monte Bohanan, The Music Hall's Director of Marketing and a Mary Roach fan, "Packing for Mars was one of my favorite books ever - the mix of science, humor, and unforgettably odd facts has kept me thinking and thinking again, and also talking about her and work. I am thrilled she is finally coming to The Music Hall, and with such a timely book!"

GRUNT explores those aspects of war that no one makes movies about-not the killing but the keeping alive. It salutes the scientists and surgeons running along in the wake of combat, lab coats flapping. GRUNT celebrates the courage of people like Navy flight surgeon Angus Rupert, who flew blindfolded and upside down to test a vibrating suit designed to help pilots fly by feel should they become blinded or disoriented, and Captain Herschel Flowers of the Army Medical Research Laboratory, who injected himself with cobra venom to test the possibility of building immunity.

Chapter by chapter, Roach introduces us to a range of quirky but essential scientific endeavors. With her characteristic sense of humor, her indefatigable enthusiasm, and her sharp eye for telling detail, Roach, as always, proves to be the ideal tour guide, whether observing two maggots devour a third on the tip of her index finger, courtesy of George Peck, resident filth fly expert at the Entomology Branch of the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research; sniffing Stench Soup, a superlative malodorant (i.e., stink bomb) described as "Satan on a throne of rotting onions," designed to efficiently clear buildings or disperse violent mobs; or attending medic training with the $57,000 Strategic Operations Cut Suit, a "human-worn" patient simulator with skin that actually "bleeds" when pierced.

When it comes to military history, not all heroes carry guns, and not all heroism happens in a burst of cinematic glory. In GRUNT, the heroes engage in dizzying flights of unorthodox thinking.

MARY ROACH is the New York Times best-selling author of STIFF: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, SPOOK: Science Tackles the Afterlife, BONK: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, PACKING FOR MARS: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, and GULP: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal. She lives in Oakland, California.

Tickets for Writers on a New England Stage: Mary Roach on Monday, May 16, at 7:00pm are $13.25 ($11.25 for members).

Book: GRUNT: The Curious Science of Humans at War For each 1-2 tickets sold, the purchase of a book voucher ($26.95, hardcover) is required. Vouchers can be redeemed on the event night for signed copies of the book. Tickets can be purchased through The Music Hall Box Office, located at 28 Chestnut Street, Portsmouth, or over the phone at 603.436.2400.