My Planet

From acclaimed, New York Times best-selling author Mary Roach comes the complete collection of her My Planet articles published in Readers Digest. She was a hit columnist in the magazine, and this book features the articles she wrote in that time. Insightful and hilarious, Mary explores the ins and outs of the modern world: marriage, friends, family, food, technology, customer service, dental floss, and antsshe leaves no element of the American experience unchecked for its inherent paradoxes, pleasures, and foibles.On Cleanliness: Ed has crud vision, and I dont. I dont notice filth. Ed sees it everywhere. I am reasonably convinced that Ed can actually see bacteria. . . . He confessed he didnt like me using his bathrobe because Id wear it while sitting on the toilet.Its not like it goes in the water, I protested, though if you counted the sash as part of the robe, this wasnt strictly true.On the Internet: The Internet is a boon for hypochondriacs like me. Right now, for instance, Im feeling a shooting pain on the side of my neck. A Web search produces five matches, the first three for a condition called Arnold-Chiari Malformation.While my husband, Ed, reads over my shoulder, I recite symptoms from the list. General clumsiness and general imbalance, I say, as though announcing arrivals at the Marine Corps Ball. Difficulty driving, lack of taste, difficulty feeling feet on ground.Those arent symptoms, says Ed. Those are your character flaws.On Fashion: My husband recently made me try on a bikini. A bikini is not so much a garment as a cloth-based reminder that your parts have been migrating all these years. My waist, I realized that day in the dressing ro