Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal 1st Edition

by Mary Roach (Author)

1,156 customer reviews

ISBN-13: 978-0393348743

ISBN-10: 0393348741

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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.

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Editorial Reviews

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

About the Author

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.

Paperback: 352 pages
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company; 1 edition (April 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0393348741
ISBN-13: 978-0393348743
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 1,156 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #20,777 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2 in Books > Textbooks > Medicine & Health Sciences > Medicine > Clinical > Gastroenterology
- #15 in Books > Textbooks > Science & Mathematics > Biology & Life Sciences > Anatomy & Physiology
- #45 in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Zoology

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

April 2, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified 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.

288 people found this helpful

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Allyson M. W. Dyar

Yum?

October 24, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

When I worked at Frontier Communications (like working at Intel), I would eat lunch, then read for 30 or so minutes.

This is a book that doesn’t really work as a post-prandial tome. Even though I can watch the DiscoveryLife channel while eating, Gulp brought me to the edge.

It’s not that the book is badly written, but the author discusses subjects that aren’t usually the subject of medical tomes (spit) to a scientific discussion of feces. As I said, this was not the best choice of book to read after lunch.

Despite having said that, this was a fantastic book, taking the reader on a trip through the alimentary canal from mouth to food’s final disposition.

Highly recommended for those who are interested to what happens to that steak once you swallow it. I would suggest that you not read this before or after you eat. You’ll thank me later.

4.8 out of 5

5 people found this helpful

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Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach

May 13, 2017

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This was an interesting reading experience. The author has a knack for infusing humor into her writing, she grossed me out a little but also made me laugh.

I never knew people taste tested pet food, why would they anyway? She also discusses the taboos behind eating certain foods. There is an entire chapter on saliva and one on William Beaumont and Alexis St. Martin and his experiments. The author introduces you to all kinds of strange experiments as different scientists discuss and examine the digestive tract. There is a chapter on constipation and how it can kill you.
I need to be brave a grab a copy of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.

3 people found this helpful

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Fun, but not meaty enough to support an in depth discussion

August 30, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

What can I say more than what has already been said very well in so many good reviews already on this site? I suggest that you read both Amazon’s “most helpful positive review” and the “most helpful negative review” and then try to determine which one seems to speak to your individual situation and mindset. You see, both are right. Yes, this book has great strengths and great weaknesses depending on what you expected and wanted to get out of it…and what previous knowledge you already had to bring to this topic.

In my case, this book was used the basic textbook for an eight-week discussion group studying microbes and the human gut. We were a dozen or so very bright seniors, all retired from a variety of successful professional careers. The “class” was affiliated with the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) where we organize group discussions and presentations around a strong peer-learning concept. Before each class session, we read one or two chapters from this book and then had discussion based on questions prepared by one or two of our members about those chapters. In addition, we listened to, and discussed, one or two presentations prepared by members. All the presentations dealt with topics related to our human microbiome, especially those microbes in the alimentary canal. Our OLLI has found that this is a good format for casual academic group learning, especially in an environment where almost everyone already has an advanced degree. Basically, we rely on learning through individual reading and research, and enhance that learning by sharing it with our peers.

Our class had a lot of problems using this book as the central discussion text to support the class. There was just not enough substance within each chapter for adequate discussion questions. Sure the book was fun to read, but it didn’t leave the group with much to discuss.

If you’re interested in this topic and enjoy humorous light books covering scientific topics, then this may be exactly what you’re looking for; but, if you want more in- depth knowledge on this topic, I suggest you look elsewhere.

3 people found this helpful

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