Don't Eat This Book [Hardcover]

Morgan Spurlock (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 19, 2005

The literary debut of the funniest and most incisive new voice to come along since Michael Moore-and the acclaimed director of the film phenomenon of the year.

Can man live on fast food alone? Morgan Spurlock tried to do just that. For thirty days, he ate nothing but three "squares" a day from McDonald's as part of an investigation into the effects of fast food on American health. The resulting documentary won him resounding applause and a worldwide release that broke box-office records. Audiences were captivated by Spurlock's experiment, during which he gained twenty-five pounds, his blood pressure skyrocketed, and his libido all but disappeared.

But this story goes far beyond Spurlock's good-humored "Mc-Sickness." He traveled across the country-into schools, hospitals, and people's homes -to investigate school lunch programs, the marketing of fast food, and the declining emphasis on health and physical education. He looks at why fast food is so tasty, cheap, and ultimately seductive, and what Americans can do to turn the rising tide of obesity, hypertension, and diabetes that have accompanied its ever-growing popularity. He interviewed experts in twenty U.S. cities-from surgeon generals and kids to lawmakers and marketing gurus-who share their research, opinions, and "gut feelings" on our ever-expanding girth and what we can all do to offset a health crisis of supersized proportions.

In this groundbreaking, hilarious book, "benevolent muckraker" Morgan Spurlock debuts a wry investigative voice that will appeal to anyone interested in the health of our country, our children, and ourselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Fact-packed and funny, this offshoot of Spurlock's Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me serves both as a substitute for and addition to the movie. Spurlock spent a month not exercising and eating nothing but food from McDonald's, filming his declining health and ballooning size. It was a terrific premise for a movie; the book provides even more of its backstory and outtakes. Spurlock describes America's obesity epidemic, its relation to the fast food industry, the industry's cozy relations to U.S. government agencies and how the problem is spreading worldwide. He details the long-term and often fatal (albeit well-known) health hazards of the high-fat, high-sugar, factory-farmed fast food diet combined with the sedentary lifestyle prevalent among Americans. The statistics, while grim, aren't as compelling as Spurlock's often humorous descriptions of his own gradual disintegration into exhaustion, mood swings, liver deterioration and high blood pressure as his month progresses. Spurlock's wisecracks make the statistic-laden information easily digestible and possibly useful as a classroom text. He includes inspiring examples of schools that provide healthy, local (even student-grown) food in their cafeterias, and offers lists of resources for parents and educators wanting to make changes in their own communities. Spurlock is surprisingly optimistic about the future, and his book is a powerful tool in his rip-roaring campaign to turn around America's love-hate relationship with fast food. Agent, Elyse Cheney Literary. (May 19)

From Booklist

Spurlock, whose film documentary Super Size Me, earned an Oscar nomination and substantial media attention earlier this year, expands into a book his polemic against fast food in general and McDonald's in particular. He rails against America's ubiquitous burger outlets, holding them uniquely responsible for the country's obesity crisis and fretting that these corporations' overseas successes have spread worldwide the least seemly fruits of U.S. economic and agricultural success. With insight, he links Americans' expanding girth to consumers' demand for larger, less fuel-efficient vehicles, such as SUVs. He cites research demonstrating that fats are bad for people, sugar is bad for people, meat is bad for people, and advertising's seductions multiply these health perils exponentially. This is territory already well explored and thoroughly mapped in Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (2002) and Nestle's Food Politics (2003). Spurlock's ingenuous persona and his bumptious spiritedness added immeasurably to the film's charm and provided both entertainment and plausibility despite his sweeping generalizations and shaky conclusions. In print, this gee-whiz approach makes him come across as a lightweight, overshadowing and undermining whatever serious purpose he intended and whatever valid charges he might have brought against today's fast-food behemoths; however, the popularity of his documentary will spur demand for his book. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1St Edition edition (May 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152601
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152603
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #515,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

78 of 93 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic book- better as a companion piece to Super Size Me May 24, 2005

By Michael Stack VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Being a fan of the film "Super Size Me", when walking through a book store, I stumbled across this (having not known it was on its way) and picked up a copy. Had some time to read it. While I suspect it will stand alone reasonably well, this is in reality a companion piece to the movie "Super Size Me"-- it makes a number of references to the movie, and pretty much assumes you've seen it.

Essentially, Spurlock discusses his impetus to go on the project-- 30 days of nothing but McDonald's food and decreasing his physical activity to match that of an "average" American. The results are astounding-- I won't ruin the movie (or the book) by discussing it in depth, but suffice to say that the increased consumption of saturated fats, calories, and lack of nutrients has an overt negative effect. Spurlock also discusses the difficulty he had afterwards with shedding the excess weight he gained.

But perhaps more importantly-- Spurlock discusses nutrition and fitness, in our homes, in our school systems. He discusses what makes a successful lifestyle change (and note that he doesn't really talk about diets per se-- his comment is that any diet is invariably doomed to failure due to the temporary nature of it). He also evaluates any number of fad diets, including a good slam at the low carb craze and Atkins diet (which caused me to be confused as to why a previous reviewer seemed to indicate he was advocating a low carb lifestyle). He also discusses Jared and the Subway diet and really analyzes why Jared lost so much weight-- the conclusions are what most people trying to lose weight doesn't want to hear-- the only way to lose weight is to eat better and exercise more.

But really its the school system bit thats most interesting, about how fast food/junk food companies are taking over our school systems by offering funding that the schools desparately need to get in the door and then turning out generation of brand-imprinted kids. And he points out how the junk food dealerspush personal responsibility onto the eight year olds ("the parents need to teach good choices" as though any parent will convince an eight year old that carrots are a better idea than Oreos....).

Spurlock also doesn't leave anyone out to dry-- his book is full of suggestions for lifestyle changes, and contact information for model school systems and driving change in our own environments.

Most importantly, Spurlock presents this in an easy to read manner injected with humor and wit, and the book is a fun read. And yeah, it is pretty goofy his diet, but I think it made its point pretty well. For anyone interested in nutrition, and certainly for anyone whose seem "Super Size Me", this is essential.

Oh, and if you haven't seen "Super Size Me"-- go out and rent it! You won't regret it!

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn About The Evils Of The Food You Probably Eat Every Day September 29, 2005

By Dan McKinnon VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Morgan Spurlock's book was an absolute wake up call for an individual that hadn't given serious thought to the dangers of fast food... ME

I had heard of Mr. Spurlock's documentary "Super Size Me" when it came out over a year ago and remembered seeing the trailers on television showing an individual (the author of this book) that ate McDonald's food (and ONLY McDonald's food) for a month. I remembered seeing him turn from a lean young adult into a man with a bulge in his tummy, and I remembered how towards the end of the trailer he didn't look like a very lively person any longer. When I saw the trailer I immediately wanted to see this film but then it was out of the theaters and didn't get the opportunity to finally watch this entertaining story until recently (and after I finished reading "Don't Eat This Book").

For anyone that has seen "Super Size Me", I think "Don't Eat This Book" is even better. As is usual, the book form is able to go into even greater detail than what you see in the documentary, and Mr. Spurlock adds information such as:

Lab test results of McDonald's food and how the #s compare to the ones the big M advertises (hint: they are worse than what the company states)

A list of all the food companies that cigarette companies own but don't want you to know about (the # of companies and brands is shocking)

My personal favorite being how long McDonald's food will last if left out in the open to rot like regular organic matter should (hint: we're not talking hours or days or even weeks here people, try YEARS)

I would estimate that over my lifetime I have probably drank over 20,000 soft drinks (I wish I was kidding) and that comes out to probably somewhere around over 3 MILLION CALORIES (from sodas alone)!!! The entire time I knew that I was drinking sugar and water but it wasn't until I read this book that I learned about the hideous difference between the regular Domino sugar packets that people put in their coffee and the evil that is High Fructose Corn Syrup. As I continued reading this book, I learned about the Frankenstein nature of HFCS and how it's not just sugar, but more like sugar on super steroids. I became sickened as I truly understood the parallels that these food/soft drink companies have with cigarette manufacturers, and I was/am very angry. After thousands upon thousands of Mountain Dews, it was like a light bulb turned on in my head and I felt used. My first trip to the supermarket saw me look at label after label as I began to find the label for "High Fructose Corn Syrup" in things I would have never expected, even things like Wheat Thins. Why in the world does HFCS belong in a cracker?!?!?!?

Needless to say, this book was a true eye opener for me, and I have begun to read some other books regarding the corporate fast food industry and how it has ruined countless Americans lives. I am trying to watch what I eat right now (I hope this behavior lasts long term), and I now better understand that the big food corporations aren't just here to make money from you buying their products, they have also used chemistry to their benefit to make sure you KEEP coming back for more.

This book should be required reading for anyone that wants to learn more about what they put in their mouths.

***** HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Very highly recommended July 29, 2005

By Paul Lappen VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

From the person behind the documentary Supersize Me, this book looks at the fast food industry in America. He explores the ways in which fast food is marketed to children, the supersizing of the fast food menu and the accompanying rise in conditions like obesity, heart disease and diabetes, even among children.

The average school cafeteria has replaced its food with sugary and sweet items like pizza and soda, that is, if the cafeteria hasn't actually been turned into a food court. Cash-strapped schools are obligated to let soda and candy vending machines in school, for a cut of the money, while physical education is being eliminated. Diabetes is supposed to be an "adult" disease; in the last few years, it has started to show up in children under 10 years old. Most nutritionists recommend limiting fast food to no more than once a month. How many people, or families, can honestly say that they can do that? In 2005, obesity related diseases will come close to smoking as the biggest killer of Americans; the estimate is that 400,000 people will die from such diseases. As an experiment, put a plate of McDonald's fries under glass, for several months. What will happen to the fries? The answer is: basically nothing. They might start to smell, but there will be little or no decomposition to the fries. One can only wonder what is in the fries or the vegetable oil to cause this to happen.

Part of this book is also a chronicle of his 30 days on the "McDonald's Diet" for the film. He got three different doctors to independently keep an eye on his health, which basically fell apart. He suffered bad headaches and chest pains, he couldn't focus mentally and his cholesterol and blood pressure rose dramatically. Oh, and he also gained more than 24 pounds.

A measure of liver function is the presence of an enzyme in the blood called serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT). During his month of McDonald's food, his number rose from 20 to 290; under 40 is normal. Another enzyme to measure liver function is alanine transaminase (ALT); his number skyrocketed from 17 to 471, before settling at 240. Again, under 40 is normal. Is it any wonder that a child born in 2000 has a 1 in 3 chance of developing diabetes from poor dietary habits?

This is a gem of a book. Filled with lots of information for all Americans, it is very easy to read, and is helped with bits of humor that Spurlock spreads all over the book. This is very highly recommended.