Visiting Author – Marlene Zuk – Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us

Join us as we welcome author and evolutionary biologist Marlene Zuk to Francie & Finch Bookshop at 5:30 on August 18th to sign copies of her book Outsider Animals: How the Creatures at the Margins of Our Lives Have the Most to Teach Us! Marlene will be visiting Lincoln as the keynote speaker for the annual Arthropodium 2026 at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln!

To learn more about this seperate event visit https://caremi.unl.edu/events-news/upcoming-events/

(About Arthropodium 2026:
The signature annual gathering of the University of Nebraska’s Community for Arthropod Research, Education, and Materials Innovation (CAREMI), a growing interdisciplinary initiative that brings together researchers, educators, engineers, artists, and students to explore how arthropods—such as insects, spiders, and crustaceans—can inspire new approaches to challenges in health, sustainability, materials science, robotics, and public engagement with science. The 2026 Arthropodium will highlight the growing national visibility of arthropodinspired innovation with internationally recognized leaders in science, art, and culinary innovation.)

To order a copy of Marlene’s book from F&F, follow the link HERE!

About the Book:
“This is a truly compelling book, rich with scientific expertise and humor.”–Isabella Rossellini

From one of our foremost experts on behavioral evolution, an entertaining exploration of what raccoons, rats, and other animal intruders teach us about intelligence, adaptability, and ourselves

When we think of animals that provide the greatest insights into animal cognition and behavior, primates and honeybees come to mind, or perhaps whales or octopus. What about the raccoons that plunder our rubbish at night, or the coyotes that threaten pets and livestock, or the gulls that divebomb for snacks at the beach? Outsider Animals challenges everything you thought you knew about the overlooked animals that live in proximity to humans, sharing the stories that each has to tell about adaptation and cohabitation on our increasingly crowded planet.

Marlene Zuk gives us a new appreciation for the animals we often shun, explaining why these unpopular creatures have something special to teach us not only about the ways we deal with other species but about our own place in nature and what it means for an animal to belong somewhere. You will discover how coyotes and snakes shed light on our coevolution with predators, what cockroaches tell us about the evolution of pregnancy, how butterflies make us reconsider the effects of roadside pollution, how cowbirds and mynas are forcing ecologists to think differently about invasive species, and much more.

Writing with an infectious blend of humor and curiosity, Zuk invites us to reflect on our relationships with these close-to-home creatures and the ways our lives encroach on theirs, and to draw lessons from their behavior in all its fascinating complexity.

About the Author:
Marlene Zuk is an evolutionary biologist and author of seven books – most recently, Outsider Animals – and ~200 scientific publications. Her research integrates behavior, physiology, and evolutionary theory to explore how signaling systems evolve under competing pressures from mates, predators, and pathogens. Her most recent book is a science-driven exploration of the animals that live alongside humans but are often disliked, ignored, or misunderstood.