Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit [Paperback]

Ryan Nerz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 4, 2006

Journalist Ryan Nerz spent a year penetrating the highest echelons of international competitive eating and Eat This Book is the fascinating and gut-bustingly hilarious account of his journey.
Nerz gives us all the facts about the history of the IFOCE (Independent Federation of Competitive Eating)--from the story of a clever Nathan's promotion that began in 1916 on the corner of Surf and Stillwell in Coney Island to the intricacies of individual international competitions, the controversial Belt of Fat Theory and the corporate wars to control this exploding sport. He keeps the reader turning the pages as we are swept up in the lives of Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, "Cookie" Jarvis, "Hungry" Charles Hardy, and many other top gurgitators whose egos and secret agendas, hopes and dreams are revealed in dramatic detail. As Nerz goes on his own quest to become a top gurgitator, we become obsessed with him as he lies awake at night in physical pain from downing dozens of burgers and learning to chug gallons of water to expand his increasingly abused stomach.
Sparing no one's appetite, Nerz reveals the training, game-day strategies and after-effects of competition in this delectably shocking banquet of gluttony and glory on the competitive eating circuit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With barbecue sauce–soaked tongue planted firmly in cheek, Nerz chronicles his amusing adventures in the perverse, repellent, strangely heroic world of "competitive eating." Having moved beyond county fair pie-eating contests, competitive eating is now a global challenge involving national pride, superstars and, in 2005, $200,000 in prize money. Freelance journalist Nerz falls in with the denizens of this world while covering the Nathan's Famous Fourth of July International Hot Dog–Eating Contest for the Village Voice. There, the diminutive Japanese Takeru Kobayashi overturns years of American dominance by consuming 50 hot dogs and buns in 12 minutes. From the gastronomical excesses of Coney Island, it's a short hop to the sadomasochistic extremes of Japan, where, during the Superman Dash, "Hungry" Charles Hardy and Kazutoyo Arai devour 180 bento box lunches between them. Along the way, records are broken and countless calories are consumed. Hired by the International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), Nerz travels the U.S., promoting jambalaya-eating contests in New Orleans, chicken-eating blowouts in Philadelphia and fried asparagus feasts in Sacramento. Despite disgusting details—vomiting, distended bellies, etc.—Nerz presents his story with glee and good humor. 30 pages of b&w photos. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Takeru ("Tsunami") Kobayashi is the greatest eater alive. He is a five-time winner of Nathan's Coney Island hot-dog-eating contest (53 and a half hot dogs in 12 minutes in 2004), ate 69 burgers in 8 minutes in 2005, and once gained 26 and a half pounds in 45 minutes in a Weight Crash (an extreme eating event in Japan). And yet, he weighs only 131 pounds. How does he do it? Former competitive eater Ed Krachie's "Belt of Fat Theory" claims that the more fat you have on your gut, the less room your stomach has to expand and, therefore, the less food it can hold (he wrote up his theory and submitted it to the New England Journal of Medicine--they rejected it). Nerz, a part-time IFOCE (International Federation of Competitive Eating) announcer and journalist, has written what is basically a book-length infomercial for the organization and its most famous "athletes" (Cookie Jarvis, Eric Booker, and the U.S.'s last great hope of regaining the Nathan's title, Sonya Thomas). His carnival-barker style probably works just fine for an 8-minute burrito-eating contest, but it quickly becomes exhausting to read. This will have its audience, however--a must for extreme gourmands and freak-show enthusiasts alike. Carlos Orellana
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (April 4, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312339682
• ISBN-13: 978-0312339685
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,464,150 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Delicious, April 19, 2006

By 

Terry Gordon "terrygordon" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit (Paperback)

This falls under one of those "I had no idea" categories of books. Kind of like WORD FREAK did for Scrabble, this opened up the world of competitive eating for those of us who maybe saw the Nathan's hot dog eating contest and that's it. The stories about the various eaters, their training and events themselves are insane. This is a really fast read--and totally fascinating. I loved it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great read about a fascinating new sport, April 20, 2006

By 

Tom Tuttle (Tacoma, Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit (Paperback)

This is a great overview of the fast growing sport of competitive eating. Book goes into the background and inspirations of many different eater/athletes. I found this very interesting, informative and more importantly a very enjoyable read. Anyone can pick this up and have fun with it. Way better then going to the movies.

5.0 out of 5 stars Story-telling at it's best, January 10, 2007

By 

Marci Alboher (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Eat This Book: A Year of Gorging and Glory on the Competitive Eating Circuit (Paperback)

Nerz is a natural-born storyteller, and I'd read anything he puts his name on. So it's no surprised that he could get me interested in competitive eating, a subject I have no inclination towards. Absolutely can't wait to see what he's up to next.