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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal Hardcover – Illustrated, April 1, 2013

4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,319 ratings

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The irresistible, ever-curious, and always best-selling Mary Roach returns with a new adventure to the invisible realm we carry around inside.

“America’s funniest science writer” (Washington Post) 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.

15 illustrations
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, April 2013: Mary Roach’s investigations into weird body science were inspired by a plastic torso with removable organs in her fifth-grade class, “the point at which curiosity began to push aside disgust or fear or whatever it is that so reliably deflects mind from body.” Since then, she’s investigated death (Stiff), sex (Bonk), life after death (Spooked), and life in zero-gravity (Packing for Mars). Now, she cruises down the alimentary canal with Gulp. As you’d expect with Roach, this isn’t a methodical top-to-bottom tour. It’s more delightful and memorable than that. She’s a gorgeous writer, a master of sly asides, puns, and the bizarre but ultimately relevant story, sounding at times like an absurdly well-informed comedian (her footnotes are must-reads). And her evocative portraits of experts obsessed with their piece of the digestive puzzle--the surprising properties of saliva, nuances of chewing and digesting, and, yes, the incredible control of the colon--coaxes her readers beyond the gag reflex, inspiring awe for the world inside ourselves. --Mari Malcolm

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In her latest rollicking foray into taboo, icky, and underappreciated aspects of the human body, best-selling science writer Roach takes readers on a wild ride down the alimentary canal. Not that the author of Stiff (2003), Bonk (2008), and Packing for Mars (2010) ever takes a direct route anywhere. No, voraciously curious and intrepid Roach zips off in whatever direction her ardor for research and irrepressible instinct for the wonderfully weird lead her. She begins this hilarious, mind-expanding inquiry into eating, digestion, and elimination with the symbiosis between smell and taste, guided by an olfactorily gifted “sensory analyst,” then profiles Horace Fletcher, proponent of a rigorous chewing routine known as “Fletcherizing” practiced by Henry James and Franz Kafka. We learn more than one can imagine about saliva and our passion for crispy and crunchy foods. Given Roach’s fascination with what we find disgusting, scientific obsessions and bizarre experiments, and horrifying things we do to ourselves, the stories get stranger as she proceeds down the body. Roach interviews a prison inmate about “rectal smuggling” (including cell phones), tells tales of flatulence, and reveals the truth about Elvis Presley’s fatal megacolon. For all her irreverence, Roach marvels over the fine-tuned workings and “wisdom” of the human body, and readers will delight in her exuberant energy, audacity, and wit. --Donna Seaman

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ W. W. Norton & Company; Illustrated edition (April 1, 2013)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 352 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0393081575
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0393081572
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1100L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.14 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 3,319 ratings

About the author

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Mary Roach
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Mary Roach is the author of Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War, Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void, Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. Her writing has appeared in Outside, Wired, National Geographic, and the New York Times Magazine, among others. She lives in Oakland, California.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
3,319 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book entertaining and informative about digestion. They describe the writing style as witty, well-researched, and easy to read. The book provides an interesting overview of the digestive process from beginning to end. Readers appreciate the author's tasteful writing style.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

553 customers mention "Humor"529 positive24 negative

Customers enjoy the humor in the book. They find the end notes amusing and add to the main text. Readers describe it as an entertaining nonfiction book about digestion, with its witty and off-topic footnotes. They appreciate the author's quirky interviews and hands-on work.

"...You will learn a lot and you will laugh a lot and you will end up wanting to make friends with this author because she is so amusing and so..." Read more

"...done under rather unsavory conditions, but makes for some fascinating after-lunch reading. Trust me, read it after...." Read more

"...I have read her other books, and found them to be instructive, witty, and sometimes funny. This book is another enjoyable find...." Read more

"...And humor. I had no idea that there were so many odd professional specialties in the world I remember deeming as dull...." Read more

457 customers mention "Information quality"444 positive13 negative

Customers find the book informative and educational about how the digestive system functions. They appreciate the candid and humorous approach to the subject matter and the author's effort to get the facts right. The book covers topics like pseudoscience and the true history of digestion in a comprehensive manner.

"...with her other books, this one is replete with interesting and often bizarre facts and tales of eccentrics and misguided scientists and experiments..." Read more

"...The author offers tons of interesting facts, figures and things to consider, here are just a few; Laundry detergent is essentially a digestive tract..." Read more

"...It is one of the more fascinating and informative books I have read in a long time...." Read more

"...I have read her other books, and found them to be instructive, witty, and sometimes funny. This book is another enjoyable find...." Read more

443 customers mention "Readability"413 positive30 negative

Customers find the book interesting and filled with useful information about the alimentary canal. They enjoy reading it, finding each chapter filled with facts and chuckles. The book provides an entertaining look at scientific advancements and adventures on the digestive system.

"...As with her other books, this one is replete with interesting and often bizarre facts and tales of eccentrics and misguided scientists and..." Read more

"...It is one of the more fascinating and informative books I have read in a long time...." Read more

"...She delivers cogent and well organized material in well formed and flowing prose. For this feat I give five stars." Read more

"...my path in life early as she makes the world of science one of extraordinary interest. And humor...." Read more

254 customers mention "Writing style"236 positive18 negative

Customers find the writing style informative and entertaining. They appreciate the author's nice manner of writing that is amusing and instructive. The books are well-researched and presented clearly. Readers find the topics interesting and educational.

"...This really is one of the best books I have read this year...." Read more

"...I am grateful she has chosen to share it in yet another of her wonderful books." Read more

"...enjoy her books - the quirky people she interviews, the hands-on work she does (like in Bonk, when she & her husband attempted sex in an MRI machine)..." Read more

"..."*Seriously, published by Oxford University Press. But highly readable...." Read more

82 customers mention "Digestibility"73 positive9 negative

Customers find the book interesting and easy to understand. They appreciate the non-technical yet informative approach, covering the entire digestion process in a conversational and witty way. The book provides an exploration of the physiology of eating, with case studies and historical treatments of digestive ailments. It is described as a supplement to The Gut on Amazon Prime Video and a delight from beginning to end.

"..."...stomachs can digest themselves...." Read more

"...Chewing leads to a discussion of saliva, and we learn "Bodily fluids, gas and excrement may disgust us once they leave the body, but "we are large,..." Read more

"...I really appreciated her simplified description of the digestive system as one long tube (albeit one that takes various shapes) from mouth to..." Read more

"...Roach's focus in this book is the alimentary canal, the highway of the digestive system, which starts with the tastebuds an esophagus and ends with..." Read more

37 customers mention "Style"33 positive4 negative

Customers find the book's style enjoyable and tasteful. They appreciate the author's laid-back approach to difficult topics like digestion. The book provides an intelligent look at people and their bodies with wit and enthusiasm.

"...The author offers tons of interesting facts, figures and things to consider, here are just a few; Laundry detergent is essentially a digestive tract..." Read more

"...this is a hilarious, surprising, occasionally disgusting, and always amazing look at what goes on inside us all." Read more

"...Her style is quite unique: entertaining and educational with little mischief. This book is not different...." Read more

"...She takes us on an amazing journey into our bodies with wit and verve. I love the little cul de sacs of research history she explores...." Read more

53 customers mention "Topic knowledge"28 positive25 negative

Customers have different views on the book's topic. Some find it interesting and engaging, exploring our alimentary nature and animal cognition. Others feel the subject matter is less fascinating than expected, strange, or off-base. The author provides too many details and lacks a consistent theme throughout.

"...Her passages on animal cognition were interesting, such as a food's smell accounting for 75% of getting a dog to eat it...." Read more

"...Fewer dinner tales. What actually happens in digestion is, in itself, phenomenal. I never stop to stand in awe...." Read more

"...As an assortment of tales about biology, it's very readable...." Read more

"...Perhaps it's simply that the topic doesn't have universal appeal...." Read more

32 customers mention "Grossness"16 positive16 negative

Customers have different views on the book's grossness. Some find it humorous and disgusting, while others find it too technical and a little gross.

"...in check, you'll find that this is a hilarious, surprising, occasionally disgusting, and always amazing look at what goes on inside us all." Read more

"...And yes, there are many yukky, gory and "gaggy" parts so read with a strong stomach...." Read more

"...This book will amuse, edify, amaze, & possibly gross you out. But it wont bore you." Read more

"...Although, it was a little gross at points, the hilarity and insight were totally worth it (the same is true for all of her books)." Read more

Gulp book
4 out of 5 stars
Gulp book
For a major brain aneurysm survivor I had to work on pretty much everything again. I didn’t know if I could read again but I bought one anyway just in case. Surprisingly I could understand what some of the words meant. Sure I understood about 70% of this book, but truthfully I was really happy that just understanding part of the book I could read again. I also was listening to audiobook (Audible from Amazon) while reading along. That help a bunch. The book was interesting and funny too :)
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Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2013
    Mary Roach is one of my favorite science writers and I always buy her books and read them when they first come out.

    This book - Gulp - is all about the alimentary canal; that part of the body that begins at the point where food is consumed and ends where solid waste is expelled. Starting with taste and the mouth, she follows our digestive system all the way down. As with her other books, this one is replete with interesting and often bizarre facts and tales of eccentrics and misguided scientists and experiments gone awry. The author covers all sorts of "taboo" and sensitive subjects and both educates us and makes us laugh.

    At the start, we learn about the importance of our nose (our ability to smell) and what that has to do with taste. She also compares our tastebuds with those of cats and dogs - showing how we often assume that they will like what we will. Well, it turns out that's really wrong. We learn how different cultures throughout history have found different things palatable and that the foods consumed by the most privileged may not be the healthiest. She also goes on later on to compare the anatomy of man to those of various other animals and points out how we are the same and how we differ. We learn about the problems and benefits associated with our digestive system and the various theories and treatments over time for various intestinal ailments.

    In typical Mary Roach style, she candidly discusses such "taboo" topics as intestinal gas and our bowel habits. We read about the dangers of prisoners secreting contraband in their stomachs or their anal cavities and go from there to learning about the digestive systems of competitive eaters. We learn about the importance of saliva, all about acid reflux, and the various problems associated with indigestion among many, many other topics. We even learn why Elvis died, and yes it was on the toilet. We even hear a theory why people believed in dragons; and yes it has to do reptiles with gas and combustion. We find out why we don't digest our own stomachs (well, while we're alive) and whether or not animals other than parasites can survive being swallowed and even forcibly make their way out.

    It's difficult to give a fair summary to this book because it covers so much. This may be favorite book of hers since Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, and like that book this book will literally have you laughing out loud. For example, in trying to avoid the embarrassment of releasing intestinal gas, she writes:

    "Or perhaps to take the advice of a gastroenterologist I know: get a dog. (To blame.)"

    As a person who has GERD (acid reflux) and has spent time in the hospital for an episode of intestinal blockage (worst pain, ever), I was especially interested in this topic. But I think it's really something that would interest everyone. You will learn a lot and you will laugh a lot and you will end up wanting to make friends with this author because she is so amusing and so personable.

    Highly recommended. You just have to read the first few pages to see if this is something you would enjoy. I read this in one sitting; it was not only entertaining but I'm smarter for having read it.
    313 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2013
    Gulp. Adventures on The Alimentary Canal

    By Mary Roach

    Though author Roach was recently called "America's funniest science writer" (Washington Post) she is not a scientist and claims that she often times has to fake her way through interviews with the experts. This alone was enough of an endorsement to get my attention, yet I've read her work before and pretty much knew what I was in for. Or did I?

    Though author Roach starts off with a non-alimentary canal location (the nose) it's quickly explained that it is through the process of smell that we eat what we do, not necessarily because of how it tastes. Eighty to Ninety percent, to be exact. And on she travels, down our inner tubing, splashing next into the stomach. Since mine is on the sensitive side, I paid close attention to this particular chapter, before moving on down.

    "...stomachs can digest themselves. Gastric acid and pepsin digest the cells of the stomach's protective layer quite effectively...the organ swiftly rebuilds what it breaks down. A healthy adult has a new stomach lining every three days."

    Food for thought indeed.

    The author offers tons of interesting facts, figures and things to consider, here are just a few; Laundry detergent is essentially a digestive tract in a box, fecal transplants can cure intractable C. diff infection, internal cleansings are very unhealthy, humans secrete two types of saliva--stimulated and un-stimulated and Elvis did not die of an overdose. I'm not telling, you'll have to read this baby to find out the truth.

    Over the years, as you can well imagine, many, in the name of science, came up with all sorts of reasons why and how the body digested food and ways to help the process along. Take Horace Fletcher, the nut-case who instigated a famous fad for extreme over-chewing called Fletcherizing. He suggested that the best and most efficient way to get the biggest buck from every bite was to chew one's food until it was completely liquefied. Talk about long lunches!

    Then author Roach researched the famous surgeon William Beaumont's case proving once and for all how little chewing is needed to digest most foods completely. It was done under rather unsavory conditions, but makes for some fascinating after-lunch reading.

    Trust me, read it after.

    She also delves into stuffing yourself for a living, using the lower intestine to transport items, nose-picking frequency and the history of flatulence research (you won't believe the ending).

    "If things go as they should, the bacteria hysteria so lucratively nurtured by the likes of Purell and Lysol will begin to subside."

    According to Roach, Bacteria is what keeps our system literally chugging along, without it, well, things that should move on and out (think grown children) can turn into all sorts of discomforts. She does hop around a great deal and touches on pet food science for some bizarre reason, but overall this is a hilarious as well as informing read.

    "Most of us pass our lives never once laying eyes on our organs, the most precious and amazing things we own. Until something goes wrong, we barely give them thought."

    This book will give you much to chew on.
    10 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Karen I
    5.0 out of 5 stars Medical hilarity
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 22, 2021
    I loved this book and have since bought another of this author's books. I learnt so much about the digestive system, while having a laugh along the way. Mary Roach is a talented writer and I now consider myself to be both fan and follower. I highly recommend this wonderful book.
  • Alexandra
    5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and engaging, a well researched journey.
    Reviewed in Australia on September 9, 2020
    Roach is by turns earnestly interested and wryly amused by the contents of her book.
    I genuinely enjoyed this, and will look for the rest of Roach's works.
  • Dr. Tim Parker
    5.0 out of 5 stars Probably my favorite Roach book: a superb read and endlessly fascinating.
    Reviewed in Canada on August 9, 2016
    Roach's books are fascinating: they delve into things most people would consider gross or unpleasant, and make the subject interesting and actually fascinating. They are also well written, which helps enormously. Gulp looks at your gut: what happens when you eat, what's in your stomach and intestines, what happens when things go wrong, and all kinds of similar subjects related to digestion. Not the sort of thing you think would be interesting? Give her a chance...once you start reading, you'll be hooked.

    Of all her books (and I've read them all) this is perhaps the most entertaining, partly because of the subject matter but also because of the approach. As someone with medical training, none of this was new to me, but it was still a fascinating approach to the subject, written in a way non-medical people will find both informative and readable, and highly accurate, too. There's the science of the digestive system, of course, but woven around that is the story of people and various other detours (such as religion) and how they tie back to the gut.

    This is a fun read: despite the subject making some people squeamish, you can't help but be drawn into the subject and enjoy the writing. I guarantee you'll learn something; I guarantee you'll be telling others some of the things you learn here; and I guarantee you'll get a giggle out of some of the content. Well written, well researched, and addictive. What more can you ask from a book and a writer.
  • marion b
    5.0 out of 5 stars "Yum!"
    Reviewed in France on October 5, 2013
    On a dit "beurk", on a dit "oh!" mais c'est surtout une onomatopée de plaisir que l'on retient de la lecture de ce livre. Excellent ouvrage de vulgarisation scientifique, 'Gulp' est est drôle, captivant, truculent et instructif à chaque page. Prenez place à bord: vous embarquerez pour un savoureux voyage à travers les viscères humaines et animales.
    Un peu comme si Mary Roach avait écrit un "Il était une fois la vie" pour les adultes.
    Bon appétit.
  • 伊藤よしひろ
    4.0 out of 5 stars 消化器にまつわるトリビアとギャグ満載の科学書
    Reviewed in Japan on January 22, 2016
    ペーパーバック: 348ページ
    出版社: W W Norton & Co Inc (2014/04)
    ISBN-10: 0393348741 のレビュー

     この著者の本を読むのは初めてである。消化器・食べ物に関する最新の研究、および周辺産業の最前線を取材したものである。堅苦しい科学書ではなく、下ネタ好きが喜ぶトリビアな話が満載である。医学・生理学に興味がある人もない人も、なにかしら意外な事実を発掘できて、他人に話したくなること請け合いである。アメリカでさまざまな賞をとっている人気のライターである。

     ただし、読み進んでいくうちに、少々うんざりしたのも事実。。話題がお下品であるせいではない。著者の書きぶりが、あまりにはしゃぎすぎで、鼻についてくるのだ。アメリカ人の内輪だけで、「えー! スゴイ」「そうでしょ! うふふ」と盛り上がっているのを聞かされる気分。何を驚いているのだ、と鼻白む部分もあった。登場する研究者の容姿や服装を細々と説明するのも、少々うるさい。笑いを狙ったらしい、章の扉の写真も、あまりおもしろくない。

     以上の否定的な感想は、わたしがあまりアメリカ的ユーモアを好きでないせいかもしれない。わたしが本書を知ったのは、
    Royal Society Science Books Prizeの2014年、ショートリストに選出されていたからである。一般向け科学書に贈られる賞であり、つまり、アメリカ国内だけで評価されているわけではないのだ。ですから、著者の文体に抵抗ない方は、じゅうぶん楽しめるはずである。

    参考文献16ページ。
    索引がないのが欠点。