The Sting Of The Wild: The Man Who Got Stung Fo... Apr 2026

"Pure, intense, brilliant pain. Like walking over flaming charcoal with a three-inch nail embedded in your heel". What the Book Covers Book Review – The Sting of the Wild by Justin O. Schmidt

"Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric. A running hair dryer has just been dropped into your bubble bath". The Sting of the Wild: The Man Who Got Stung fo...

by Justin O. Schmidt is a fascinating and often humorous blend of autobiography, evolutionary biology, and adventure. Known as the "King of Sting," Schmidt recounts his decades-long career as an entomologist, during which he was stung by over 80 different species of ants, bees, and wasps—often as a byproduct of his fieldwork and biochemical research. The Schmidt Sting Pain Index "Pure, intense, brilliant pain

"Light, ephemeral, almost fruity. As if a tiny spark has singed a single hair on your arm". Schmidt "Blinding, fierce, shockingly electric

The centerpiece of the book is the , a 0-to-4 scale that ranks the agony of insect stings. Schmidt's descriptions are famously poetic, reading more like a wine critic's notes than a dry scientific manual:

"Like a matchhead that flips off and burns on your skin".