Enjoy fast, FREE delivery, exclusive deals and award-winning movies & TV shows with Prime
Try Prime and start saving today with Fast, FREE Delivery

Kindle
$9.99

Available instantly

Audiobook
$0.00
with membership trial

Hardcover
$8.55 - $19.46

Paperback
$12.41 - $16.95

List Price: $26.95 Details

Save: $7.49 (28%)

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns

FREE delivery Friday, August 18 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25

Or fastest delivery Thursday, August 17. Order within 19 hrs 1 min

Select delivery location

Only 1 left in stock - order soon

$$19.46 () Includes selected options. Includes initial monthly payment and selected options. Details

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

QUARTZ TRADING

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Details

Payment

Secure transaction

We work hard to protect your security and privacy. Our payment security system encrypts your information during transmission. We don’t share your credit card details with third-party sellers, and we don’t sell your information to others. Learn more

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

QUARTZ TRADING

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

This item can be returned in its original condition for a full refund or replacement within 30 days of receipt.

Read full return policy

Add a gift receipt for easy returns

Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime

FREE delivery Friday, August 18 on orders shipped by Amazon over $25

Or fastest delivery Thursday, August 17. Order within 19 hrs 1 min

Select delivery location

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Jenson Books Inc

Fulfilled by Amazon

Access codes and supplements are not guaranteed with used items.

Have one to sell?

Sell on Amazon

Other Sellers on Amazon

Added

Not added

$16.54
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Book Deals Plus

Added

Not added

$16.55
& FREE Shipping

Sold by: Karatay Store

Added

Not added

$20.43
FREE Shipping on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Sold by: Amazon.com

Flip to back Flip to front

See all 3 images

Follow the Author

Mary Roach

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal Illustrated Edition

by Mary Roach (Author)

4.5 2,395 ratings

See all formats and editions

{"desktop_buybox_group_1":[{"displayPrice":"$19.46","priceAmount":19.46,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"19","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"46","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"REZxNcF497YyVPb%2BJfdMGxXpaKW%2B2K2lAzeJQLEtHpEjWo5dHCOaS08X9sTYFkBdyg4P%2FrDFYvjqgHY3fDmB55p%2BMtvWg%2F%2FGjfChC7NI%2BKAzxIg2I%2FLVgZtKsaioXAXFO6YpmBe4vaouX5qgRrIgZyrX8eQYF4FC2ATChl2imjAUVAUM93s57it69Azq1Yxa","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"NEW","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":0}, {"displayPrice":"$8.55","priceAmount":8.55,"currencySymbol":"$","integerValue":"8","decimalSeparator":".","fractionalValue":"55","symbolPosition":"left","hasSpace":false,"showFractionalPartIfEmpty":true,"offerListingId":"REZxNcF497YyVPb%2BJfdMGxXpaKW%2B2K2lfwqBJhCOwysm9ZbApvn43OkWePYAzXll57MSDCkcl%2Bb6KGtDTjE1EPugW6YOvD5QntfbgUC%2BzSH53aorZZz3M%2Fo3frvsfn9sA2HX%2BgnBD0dirLCkwSLvfF%2FXXN8zexPJp6gFCTbmngOAVY%2B696BVjxxINo%2FqXnqZ","locale":"en-US","buyingOptionType":"USED","aapiBuyingOptionIndex":1}]}

Purchase options and add-ons

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

ISBN-10

0393081575
ISBN-13

978-0393081572
Edition

Illustrated
Publisher

W. W. Norton & Company
Publication date

April 1, 2013
Language

English
Dimensions

5.9 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches
Print length

352 pages
See all details

Frequently bought together

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

$16.54

Get it as soon as Monday, Aug 21

Only 1 left in stock - order soon.

Sold by Book Deals Plus and ships from Amazon Fulfillment.

+

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

$15.92

Get it as soon as Friday, Aug 18

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

+

$14.89

Get it as soon as Friday, Aug 18

In Stock.

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.

Total price:

To see our price, add these items to your cart.

Try again!

Details

Added to Cart

Some of these items ship sooner than the others.

Show details Hide details

Choose items to buy together.

Most purchasedin this set of products
Mary Roach
4,320
Paperback
$14.49
Highest ratedin this set of products
Mary Roach
985
Paperback
$13.10
Lowest Pricein this set of products
Mary Roach
847
Paperback
$10.59
This item:
Mary Roach
2,395
Hardcover
$16.54
Mary Roach
2,719
Paperback
$11.99
Mary Roach
1,316
Paperback
$15.85
Mary Roach
572
Paperback
$14.46
Mary Roach
1,378
Paperback
$16.49
Mary Roach
3,087
Hardcover
$13.86
Mary Roach
826
Paperback
$10.88
Mary Roach
1,940
Paperback
$12.99

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

Review

"There is much to enjoy about Mary Roach―her infectious aw for quirky science and its nerdy adherents, her one-liners... She is beloved, and justifiably so."
― Jon Ronson, New York Times Book Review

"As engrossing as it is gross."
― Entertainment Weekly

"Far and away her funniest and most sparkling book, bringing Ms. Roach’s love of weird science to material that could not have more everyday relevance. . . . Never has Ms. Roach’s affinity for the comedic and bizarre been put to better use. . . . “Gulp” is structured as a vastly entertaining pilgrimage down the digestive tract, with Ms. Roach as the wittiest, most valuable tour guide imaginable."
― Janet Maslin, New York Times

"A delicious read and, dare I say it, a total gas."
― Kate Tuttle, Boston Globe

"With the same eager curiosity that she previously brought to the subjects of cadavers, space, and sex, the author explores the digestive system, from mouth to colon."
― New Yorker

"[A] merry foray into the digestive sciences….Inexorably draws the reader along with peristaltic waves of history and vividly described science."
― Brian Switek, Wall Street Journal

"You’ll come away from this well-researched book with enough weird digestive trivia to make you the most interesting guest at a certain kind of cocktail party…Go ahead and put this one in your carry-on. You won’t regret it."
― Amy Stewart, Washington Post

"A witty, woving romp of a book… Roach…is a thoroughly unflappable, utterly intrepid investigator of the icky."
― Chloe Schama, Smithsonian

"Gulp is about revelling in the extraordinary complexities and magnificence of human digestion."
― The Economist

"Relentlessly fun to read."
― Bee Wilson, The New Republic

"Never before has the process of eating been so very interesting…. After digesting her book, you can’t help but think about what that really means."
― Micki Myers, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

"One of my top criteria for pronouncing a book worthwhile is the number of times you snort helplessly with laughter and say, “Wow! Did you know that ... ” before your long-suffering spouse throws a book at you from across the room. My personal spouse says that, in this department, “Gulp” takes the cake."
― Adam Woog, Seattle Times

"Letting this brilliantly mischievous writer, for whom no pun is ouch and no cow sacred, dip her pen into the font of all potty humor must have seemed even riskier than her previous excursions into corpses (Stiff), the afterlife (Spook), sex (Bonk) and outer space (Packing for Mars). But dip she did―at one point she put her whole arm into a cow’s belly―and came up with another quirkily informative pop-science entertainment in Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal."
― Jeffrey Burke, Bloomberg

"Once again Roach boldly goes where no author has gone before, into the sciences of the taboo, the macabre, the icky, and the just plain weird. And she conveys it all with a perfect touch: warm, lucid, wry, sharing the unavoidable amusement without ever resorting to the cheap or the obvious. Yum!"
― Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature

"As probing as an endoscopy, Gulp is quintessential Mary Roach: supremely wide-ranging, endlessly curious, always surprising, and, yes, gut-wrenchingly funny."
― Tom Vanderbilt, author of Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)

About the Author

Mary Roach is the author of five best-selling works of nonfiction, including Grunt, Stiff, and, most recently, Fuzz. Her writing has appeared in National Geographic and the New York Times Magazine, among other publications. She lives in Oakland, California.

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 ‏ : ‎ 1.1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.9 x 1.2 x 8.6 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #285,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #74 in Physical Anthropology (Books)
- #127 in Anthropology (Books)
- #465 in Anatomy (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 2,395 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

Important information

To report an issue with this product, click here.

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

Mary Roach

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

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

2,395 global ratings

5 star
4 star
3 star
2 star
1 star

How customer reviews and ratings work

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Jay Gilbertson

For Anyone Curious as to How Their Tubing Really Works---& It's Hilarious Too!

Reviewed in the United States on September 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

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.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

sb-lynn

If you've never read a book by Mary Roach, you should, and here's why.

Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2013

Verified Purchase

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.

308 people found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

CHRISTOPHER EVANS

Would recommend anything by this author

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 11, 2023

Verified Purchase

My f@vourite living author! Once again a superb book that delves into the science of the gut in an accessible way. My only criticism is that it can be a little American centric for European readers but those of us who haven’t studied science at university this is an easy access course!

Dr. Tim Parker

Probably my favorite Roach book: a superb read and endlessly fascinating.

Reviewed in Canada on August 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

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.

3 people found this helpful

Dr john

sailing down the alimentary canal!

Reviewed in Canada on March 31, 2014

Verified Purchase

This book told me many things about a part of the body that is important to our health and often causes us amusement. She wrote it with this in mind -- informative and amusing. I love it when non medicos or non scientists or non historians manage to tackle subjects like this and do so with insights from their areas of endeavour -- egs are this author, Bill Bryson (who explained almost everything in science) and Aritha van Herk, a novelist who wrote a history of Alberta (Mavericks). I am looking forward to reading Mary Roach's Stiff. She is a delight.

Amazon Customer

Frolic through food, top to bottom

Reviewed in Canada on May 16, 2014

Verified Purchase

Ever wondered what happens after you put food in mouth? Look no further. This book was a really enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who likes science writing. Prepare yourself for some squeamish moments, though, as Mary gets up close and personal with all types of human effluvia.

JDG123

Delightful, funny, and informative

Reviewed in Canada on December 9, 2016

Verified Purchase

Mary Roach has a wonderful talent to write about interesting, often neglected areas of science, with a mix of constantly playful humour, fresh curiosity, and well-crafted documentary insight. Lots of fun, eccentric characters described along the way. And I love her use of language--witty, articulate, and constantly engaging.

One person found this helpful

See more reviews

Amazon Prime includes:

Buy new: $19.46$19.46 FREE delivery: Friday, Aug 18 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon. Payment Secure transaction Ships from Amazon Sold by QUARTZ TRADING Returns Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Buy used: $8.55

Other Sellers on Amazon

Follow the Author

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal Illustrated Edition

Purchase options and add-ons

Frequently bought together

What do customers buy after viewing this item?

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From Booklist

Review

About the Author

Product details

Videos

Important information

About the author

Mary Roach

Customer reviews

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Top reviews from other countries

Buy new:

$19.46

FREE delivery: Friday, Aug 18 on orders over $25.00 shipped by Amazon.

Payment

Secure transaction

Ships from

Amazon

Sold by

QUARTZ TRADING

Returns

Eligible for Return, Refund or Replacement within 30 days of receipt

Buy used:

$8.55