Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America (Hardcover)

by Morgan Spurlock (Author) "Don't do it..." (more)
Key Phrases: nutritional info, eat this book, obesity crisis, United States, Burger King, Big Mac (more...)

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 (May 19, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399152601
• ISBN-13: 978-0399152603
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (66 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #607,485 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #62 in

  Books > Professional & Technical > Medical > Administration & Medicine Economics > Public Health > Nutrition

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 91 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 (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another affirmation to quit eating junk food, December 23, 2005

By	Future Author "Amazon shopper from day 1" (Encinitas, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

I wrote this review for my college paper.

Morgan Spurlock's "Don't Eat This Book" may make many of its' readers change their minds next time they want to grab a quick meal at a fast food restaurant. Spurlock, who many people know from his Oscar-nominated documentary "Super Size Me," chose a different medium this time for his findings about the food industry. The book offers much detailed information that could not be included to the documentary.

Written in an easy-to-read manner, the book is injected with humor. That Spurlock is not an author by profession is noticeable in his writing, which could use some improvement. His casual tone makes for an easy read but by trying to shock his readers with wild remarks here and there, the facts he states sound less believable. Spurlock's writing style is somewhat like Michael Moore. He makes quirk remarks and his picks on only a few mega corporations. His book could be seen more as a rant than an objective researched journal. On the other hand, the tone of the book, the introduction and book cover make it all pretty clear what the reader can expect.

He writes what the impact is of advertising on adults but mainly young children. This book is less about the poor quality of the food and focuses more on the marketing behind it. He interviewed Jared, of Subway diet fame. He discovers that it was not so much Subway's food that caused Jared's weight loss, but his increased exercise routine and his diet overhaul, from pigging-out to eating a few lean sandwiches only. I was surprised that Spurlock criticized Subway for, in his opinion misleading advertising, and not Jared, who gets well paid for promoting them.

Spurlock researched what makes certain foods addictive, what ingredients make you come back for more. Expert in this field, Dr. Barnard, is interviewed who explains the reaction of our bodies to certain foods. I like that Spurlock included input from experts, which makes him trustworthy.

The book focuses for a large part on the effect of advertising of food on children. He researched the trend of food companies marketing to children, so that the children will ask their parents to buy a particular food. May it be selling a burger by associating it with a clown, who by the way is never seen eating it himself, or hiding a toy on the bottom of a sugary cereal. And all the marketing works, as I found out myself. Simply because of a Batman picture my six year old was convinced he had to have that certain can of soup. He had no clue what kind of soup it was, but hey, it was Batman, so it must be cool.

Spurlock warns about the poor quality of school lunches and the influence large food companies have on schools. Fast food chains offer funds to schools in exchange for branding and advertising opportunities. In several cases, fast food chains have even set up shop inside school cafeterias. Even local libraries offer "Food for Reading" programs, like the San Diego County Libraries offer currently. Schools and libraries reward children with junk food if they read a set amount of books. It is great that they like to motivate children to read, but is this truly the only way? Get an ice-cream cone for a read book?

Spurlock quotes research that an inadequate diet decreases learning abilities. Schools are so focused nowadays on reaching a high-test score should not pay lip service to teaching children about eating healthy food, but actually provide it.
Spurlock is hopeful that schools will improve their lunch menus and mentions schools that found healthier alternatives. Overall, this is an entertaining and informative read for everyone who cares about what they and their loved ones put in their mouth.

10 of 10 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	Daniel McKinnon (Tewksbury, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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