WINONA, Minn. – The English profs at Winnona State want everybody at the university to be reading Mary Roach’s “Fuzz: Where Nature Breaks the Law.” The New York Times bestseller has been prescribed as the university’s 2025 “common book.” The idea is for every course on campus, as much as possible, to have a component built around the book, said English prof Andrew Higl, project chair. The author Mary Roach, a science journalist, examines the crossroads of human behavior and wildlife biology. Roach offers observations and insights from an uncommon application of forensic science to conservation science. Higl said Roach will visit campus in the fall to kick off book club discussions, a film series, and collaborations with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and local conservation organizations. An over-arching purpose of the Common Book project is to give Winona State students a shared campus experience that plays into their identity and values in enduring ways.
“Fuzz.” Published in 2021 by W.W. Norton 220 pages. $26 hardcover, $17 soft.
Higl. A scholar in Medieval studies. At Winona State since 2009. Doctorate from Loyola of Chicago.
Roach. San Francisco-based science sleuth whose numerus books are characterized by intense curiosity and humor.