The Book of Slime. A Slippery Trail in Earth's History

Slime is an ambiguous thing. Slime is both disgusting and delightful. Slime is both a vehicle for pathogens and a powerful weapon of our immune system. Slime is the substance through which our world moves. Slime exists at the intersection of everything: between the various organs and layers of our body, as well as between the earth, water, and air in the environment. In the natural world, it often becomes the decisive argument in the fatal struggle between predator and prey and plays a key role in the curious mating practices of underwater mollusks. In this astonishing book, Suzanne Wedlich takes us on a tour through the three-billion-year history of slime: from the role it played in the evolution of life on this planet to how it might manifest in the post-human life of the future. Wedlich explores the cultural and emotional significance of slime, from its special role in horror films to its subtle influence on Art Nouveau style. Slime unites Patricia Highsmith's love of snails, John Steinbeck's disgust for mixes, and Emperor Hirohito's passion for jellyfish.