Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

2013

by Mary Roach

The irresistible, ever-curious, and always bestselling Mary Roach returns with a new adventure into the invisible realm that people carry around inside. America’s funniest science writer takes us down the hatch on an unforgettable tour.

The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions explored in Gulp are as taboo, in their way, as the cadavers in Stiff and every bit as surreal as the universe of zero gravity explored in Packing for Mars.

Why is crunchy food so appealing? Why is it so hard to find words for flavors and smells? Why doesn’t the stomach digest itself? How much can you eat before your stomach bursts? Can constipation kill you? Did it kill Elvis? In Gulp, we meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks of—or has the courage to ask.

We go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a fecal transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal. With Roach at our side, we travel the world, meeting murderers and mad scientists, Eskimos and exorcists (who have occasionally administered holy water rectally), rabbis and terrorists—who, it turns out, for practical reasons do not conceal bombs in their digestive tracts.

Like all of Roach’s books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies.

5.0 Stars
1 reader

Information

354 Pages
Published by W. W. Norton & Company on Apr 01, 2013
Suggest edits

Reviews

Review by sunbreak
I pretty much love anything that Mary Roach writes. This one didn't disappoint. My gag reflex was engaged from time to time, but otherwise I loved it!
Likeless so far. Lead the way
0 comments

Are you sure you want to delete this?