Snake Men
Rebels, Reptiles, and the Race to Name Earth's Creatures
$44.46
- Hardcover
272 pages
- Release Date
7 August 2026
Summary
Raymond Hoser is known as the “Snakeman,” a moniker that he has zealously defended. As a day job, Hoser runs a Melbourne business that offers services such as snake removal and snake shows. But by the 2010s, he became famous around the world for an entirely different activity: naming thousands of new species, including more snakes than any other scientist. To some, Hoser’s accomplishments were a scientific triumph. But others have accused Hoser of what they call “taxonomic vandalism,” the res…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781324021681 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1324021683 |
| Author: | Zach St. George |
| Publisher: | WW Norton & Co |
| Imprint: | WW Norton & Co |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 272 |
| Release Date: | 7 August 2026 |
| Weight: | 432g |
| Dimensions: | 25mm x 160mm x 236mm |
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Critics Review
Snake Men traces a sinuous route through dangerous and utterly engrossing territory. The indelible obsessions of Raymond Hoser, the snake in the taxonomic garden, occupy the book, but they’re wrapped around a core story about the names of living things. Zach St. George shows us, in sparkling prose, how these language matters have shaped the ways we talk, think, argue, agree, and disagree about the natural world in all its glorious and messy contours.–Daniel Lewis, Huntington Library, author of Twelve Trees
[Snake Men] takes a wry look at the eccentric people who’ve been naming Australia’s deadliest reptiles, and the surprising conflict between “snake men” and traditional taxonomists.“–Liz Greene “Nautilus”
Slithering through the murky spaces between history and mythology … Zach St. George’s meticulously researched book amounts to detective work, as he uncovers a whole cast of snake maniacs, including some who allegedly practice ‘taxonomic vandalism, ’ an outlandish kind of crime whose victim is our shared understanding. Snake Men is a madcap delight!–Bernd Brunner, author of Bears: A Brief History and Extreme North: A Cultural History
Zach St. George
Zach St. George is a science journalist and author of The Journeys of Trees. His writing has been published in National Geographic, the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, The Atlantic, Outside, Smithsonian, Scientific American, and more. He lives in Portland, Oregon.
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