In “The Love of Two Cockroaches,” Edward de Bono, the esteemed philosopher and pioneer of “lateral thinking,” explores themes of love and individuality through the story of Cocky and Missy, two cockroaches defying societal norms. Vanessa Thorpe of The Guardian observes this narrative exploration:

One of his most idiosyncratic books, The Love of Two Cockroaches, was his first and only literary approach to questions of love and lust. The book, written in 2009 with Daniela Bartoli, de Bono’s philosophy student and later CEO of his foundation,was an allegorical tale in the form of a conversation between “two ordinary cockroaches,” Mitsa and Matok. The suggestion was that even something as unlovely as these insects can be capable of emotional attachment and attraction. “Nobody seems to like cockroaches,” the book begins. “They scurry about their lives doing no harm to anyone but are universally disliked and killed on sight.”