Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

by Mary Roach

Paperback, 2014

Call number

612.3 ROA

Collection

Publication

W. W. Norton & Company (2014), Edition: 1, 352 pages

Description

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.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MlleEhreen
My review, in two words: don't bother.

After I heard Mary Roach discussing GULP during a Radiolab podcast, I really wanted to read it. She was talking about the symbiotic relationship we have with bacteria that inhabit our intestines and colon, and the podcast was fascinating and disgusting and
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informative. A wonderful mix. I read STIFF a while back and enjoyed it, so I started GULP with high hopes.

All dashed.

GULP supposed to be about nourishment, about eating and excreting, about how important and undevalued our 'alimentary canal' is. It starts with the mouth and ends with the butt, and every chapter is a little more disgusting than the last. There's a whole chapter about fecal transplants, and if you're like me, that's a hook that will make you reach for the buy button.

I understand that this is pop science, pop non-fiction, that the purpose of a book like GULP is to entertain as well as inform. But GULP is so light it's in danger of floating away in a stiff breeze. Roach talks about sitting at a bar with this specialist, or visiting the home of that specialist, but instead of delving into the subjects those specialists understand so well, she pads the book with descriptions of the funny accent one speaks with, the video game the other's son plays. She cracks jokes about doctors with funny names (repeatedly, and it started to make me really mad -- we don't choose our names) and even describes looking at a page of Google search results. I did not buy GULP for the fascinating tale of how Mary Roach travels all around the world learning things for the book she's going to write, but I really did not buy it for the fascinating tale of how she sits at home and Googles things.

Along the same lines: she regularly cites the titles of scholarly articles she read while researching GULP and jokes about how cumbersome they can be. As often as not, she never touches on the actual content of these articles. Roach seems to have abandoned any attempt to translate that information for the reader, to make it clear and comprehensible. Instead she invites us to join her in a conspiratorial snicker at the expense of academics.

That is the exact opposite of what I want from a work of non-fiction.

There's some interesting stuff in here, buried in all the padding. But not enough. I wanted more information. I wanted Roach to delve deeper. I wanted to be satisfied, and I wasn't.

I won't be reading Mary Roach again.
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LibraryThing member Othemts
Mary Roach, the popular science writer with the sense of humor of a 12-year-old, is in her element in this book that asks the questions we don't dare to ask about the alimentary canal. After all the human body is nothing more than a tube from mouth to anus with limbs attached, is it not? So it is
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natural to want to learn about smelling, tasting, chewing, swallowing, digesting, and excreting ... as well as a quite a few things that humans do with their alimentary canals that they weren't intended for.

Here's a list of some of the topics Roach examines from reading the scientific literature and with interviews with researchers:


  • Olive oil tasting

  • Pet food flavoring (and the humans who taste them)

  • Organ meat consumption

  • Fletcherizing

  • Saliva

  • Why we like chewing crunchy food

  • Stomach expansion

  • Competitive eating

  • "Hooping" or smuggling items in the rectum

  • Methane & hydrogen in flattus

  • Rectal feeding

  • Coprophagia

  • Ritual enemas

  • Megacolon and the death of Elvis

  • Fecal transplants



After reading that list, you are either fascinated or disgusted. Go with that feeling when determining whether this book is right for you.


Favorite Passages:

"You will occasionally not believe me, but my aim is not to disgust....I don't want you to say 'This is gross.' I want you to say, 'I thought this might be gross, but it's really interesting.' Okay, and maybe a little gross."

The moral of the story is this: It takes an ill-advised mix of ignorance, arrogance, and profit motive to dismiss the wisdom of the human body in favor of some random notion you've hatched or heard and branded as true. By wisdom I mean the collective improvements of millions of years of evolution. The mind objects strongly to shit, but the body has no idea what we're on about.
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LibraryThing member bragan
Mary Roach has carved out a great little non-fiction niche for herself by taking broad, generally interesting topics (sex, death, space travel, the idea of the human soul) and exploring their weirdest, quirkiest, and least-known aspects, all while demonstrating a consistent willingness to address
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matters not usually discussed in polite society with forthrightness and humor. This book, which covers the digestive system from the mouth to the, uh, other end, is no exception. It's funny, interesting, and full of random bits of information to which the only appropriate response is, "No way, seriously?!" Among other things, it introduces us to people who do things like taste-test rancid olive oil or perform fecal transplants for a living, and answers lots of questions you probably never thought to ask, like: What do they put on kibble to make it palatable to cats? What happens if you swallow a whole shrew? And can you actually die of constipation? Not to mention some of the more out-there experiments on digestion that doctors and scientists have done over the years. Like the guy who stuck his tongue through a hole in his patient's stomach, matter-of-factly reporting what it tasted like. Disgusting? Yes, often. But somehow, it's difficult to mind too much.

I still think Stiffand Packing for Marsare easily Roach's best books, but this one is certainly a worthy addition to her oeuvre. I look forward (albeit with more than a little trepidation) to seeing what she turns her attention to next.
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LibraryThing member detailmuse
This is signature Mary Roach, here shining the bright light on the quirkiest aspects of the digestive tract, and layering her findings with hilarious on- and off-topic footnotes. She gets juvenile but not overly so, considering the topic. And she focuses mostly on the very beginning- and very
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end-points of digestion; I was disappointed that so much in the middle was unaddressed. If you’ve read and enjoyed Roach, definitely read this. If you haven’t, start with Stiff or this.

Here’s one passage, from a discussion on the colon’s drying (constipating) effect:

"Follow each call to the stool. Or, in the words of a British physician quoted in Inner Hygiene, James Whorton’s excellent and scholarly* history of constipation, 'Allow nothing short of fire or endangered life to induce you to resist...nature’s alvine call.'

*Seriously, published by Oxford University Press. But highly readable. So much so that the person who took
Inner Hygiene out of the UC Berkeley library before me had read it on New Year’s Eve. I know this because she’d left behind her bookmark -- a receipt from a Pinole, California, In-N-Out Burger dated December 30, 2010 -- and because every so often as I read, I’d come upon bits of glitter. Had she brought the book along to a party, ducking into a side room to read about rectal dilators and slanted toilets as the party swirled around her? Or had she brought it to bed with her at 2 a.m., glitter falling from her hair as she read? If you know this girl, tell her I like her style."
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LibraryThing member MrsLee
Adventures on the Alimentary Canal is a very good description of this book. I rarely find a nonfiction which I give 5 stars to, but this is one. I've already purchased a paper version for my husband to read and then pass on to my son. Science and all sorts of interesting bits of information that I
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never knew I wanted to know, and I'm still not sure I wanted to know, mixed up with fun. There were times when I was listening to this and I was waving my arms screaming, "Stop! Stop!" Not a good thing, considering I was listening to it during my commute to work, but I couldn't make myself stop it, either.
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LibraryThing member msf59
“The human digestive tract is like the Amtrak line from Seattle to Los Angeles: transit time is about thirty hours, and the scenery on the last leg is pretty monotonous."

Are you ready to take a fantastic voyage? A riveting journey from mouth to anus? Filled with humorous and informative nuggets,
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that will have you wincing one moment and giggling the next. Look no further, because Roach has done it again, with tireless research, throwing herself into her subjects with daring and bravado. Everything you want to know about saliva, stomach acids, flatulence, rectum storage and the joyous human marvel called the sphincter muscle. You will even find out what really killed Elvis and yes, it deals with “down there”.
If you haven’t sampled Roach’s nonfiction, here is your golden opportunity. Just eat lightly before reading.
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LibraryThing member coloradogirl14
Mary Roach has done it again with her latest book. I've already posted a review of Stiff, so I won't go into as much detail here, since the books have a very similar structure and writing style.

As usual, Mary Roach tackles the surprising, taboo, and slightly disgusting aspects of human life with
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surprising humor and undisguised glee. And having learned my lesson from reading Stiff, I made sure not to read this book while eating...the life of the human digestive system does not make for pleasant mealtime reading.

Among the topics covered are: the appeal of crunchy foods, why the stomach does not digest itself, how much you can eat before your stomach bursts, and whether or not constipation actually killed Elvis. In fact, there’s a significant amount of writing dedicated to the size of Elvis’s colon, much more than I ever thought there could be on that particular subject.

In other words, this is bathroom humor at its most fascinating.

Readalikes: Breasts by Florence Williams. Another fascinating and funny look at a taboo and oft-ignored part of the human body. Both books also back up their information with very credible research.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre. Both books feature razor-sharp wit and a willingness to tackle unusual scientific topics.

A Short History of the American Stomach by Frederick Kaufman. It’s not as funny as Mary Roach’s books, but it takes an unusual approach to digestion with its connections between eating habits and national policy.
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LibraryThing member terriko
This is an educational and highly entertaining book about the alimentary canal. As with her previous books, Mary Roach does a great job of not only describing the science, but also the scientists involved. Very fun and well worth reading!
LibraryThing member nmele
Some reviewers admit being put off by Roach's subject matter, which includes saliva, poop and stomach acid, as well as by her sense of humor about this stuff. I wasn't at all put off, she treats the nuts and bolts of the alimentary canal as tactfully as she did sex, ghosts and corpses in previous
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books. Roach is informative throughout and this book is a pleasure to read because of her earthy humor and grounding in the realities of everyday life. If you would rather ignore your own flatulence, saliva and other bodily excretions, forget this book. If you are interested in the medical value of saliva and the truth about probiotics, read it!
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LibraryThing member bookworm12
I’m a fan of Roach’s writing. She manages to take any subject and make fascinating and hilarious. The alimentary canal is no exception. Roach begins with the mouth and follows the path of food all the way through the process. The results is a book that is both absorbing and disgusting. I
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definitely enjoyed the first half more than the second. It turns out my threshold for reading about poop is lower than I might have guessed.

BOTTOM LINE: Interesting, gross, funny; I learned a lot. Definitely don’t listen to it at work or around your grandparents!
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LibraryThing member brochettes
As someone who reads mostly for entertainment and to escape the pressures of real life, but who doesn't mind learning something in the process, this book struck the right balance between fun and enlightening. I already knew from previous books that I enjoy Mary Roach's writing style and gleeful
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footnotes; and the subject matter was also one that interested me greatly, so it's unsurprising that I loved this.

The cackle-out-loud moments were nicely balanced by "oh-how-interesting-never-really-considered-this" moments across a broad range of digestion- related subjects. I also feel that in some of her past books, Mary's observations of her scientist researchers could, while entertaining, be a little on the mean side, and I feel she has dialled this down a little in this book, which makes me feel less guilty at laughing at the researcher's names.

All in all a really interesting and enjoyable read that manages to remain understandable to the lay person without getting the feeling of dumbing down or being patronised.
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LibraryThing member Jellyn
If you ever wanted to know more than you ever wanted to know about your digestive system, then this is definitely the way to digest that information. Mary Roach is informative, interesting, and amusing, as always. Also, gross. Very gross.

She needs to research and write faster so I can learn more
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things.
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LibraryThing member melydia
This is a tour of the entire digestive system, end to end, from cat food tasters to fecal transplants. It's told mostly with a sense of wonder, with the occasional bit of juvenile humor (because come on, really). The breadth of information is vast and most of the anecdotes are fascinating, but all
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in all I just could not get over the Ick Factor. As interesting or funny as the text was, I found I could not eat during any portion of this book. The mere mention of gastric juices was enough to put me off my breakfast. Still, it remains - as with all of Roach's books - an unexpectedly enthralling survey of a subject you likely never gave much though to before. I just didn't come away with the same desire to read more about any of the case studies presented because, you know, ick.
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LibraryThing member stillnotalice
All our plumbing from nose to tail.
LibraryThing member Meggo
Another perfectly interesting book from Mary Roach, author of books such as Stiff, Bonk and Spook (I suspect a trend in the single-name titles here). This time the subject is a random walk through the alimentary canal and digestive system. As with all of Roach's books, the book has a coherent
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organization, but it is more popular culture than scholarly, per se. Still, it's an interesting enough book, and an easy read.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
Entertaining science, wish she had been my chemistry teacher in High School instead of the monosyllabic Mr. Worth, who I unfortunately had. Some of this is boring for sure, but some is just fascinating, some is oh so gross, but some is interesting and humorous to boot. Did you know they actually
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have a poop website? Who knew. There is also a section in this book about pet food tasters for all the pet lovers out there. Amusing informative and gross how can one lose?
ARC from publisher.
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LibraryThing member bonnieclyde
awesome, like everything she writes
LibraryThing member beckyhaase
I always learn something when I read one of Roach’s books. And I usually am laughing when I learn it! Roach has a great (some would say twisted) sense of humor (don’t overlook the footnotes!) that enlivens a book that could be deadly dull. Never fear, Roach will entertain you even while
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discussing feces and other products of the human body.
Gulp takes the subject of food and its ability to pass through the body while giving nourishment and pleasure to the human (and seventh grade boys a scintillating topic of conversation) and delves into the most intimate phases of digestion and excretion. She finds unique and interesting studies (both legitimately scientific and the just bizarre) and explains what was learned in a way understandable to laymen.
One thing I learned is that 90% of taste is actually smell, so the alimentary canal begins with the nose and ends with the anus (another smell!) Sorry, I couldn’t help it – that is what reading a Mary Roach book will do to you. Enjoy!
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LibraryThing member SChant
Mary Roach - as usual, funny, informative and occasionally gross. I enjoyed it immensely.
LibraryThing member neurodrew
The author is a journalist, with a taste for the absurd and possibly gross anecdote. She researched this book mostly because of a perverse interest in disgusting taboos. She describes taste experts, unusual diets among Eskimos, fecal transplantation, cow stomachs, salivat analysis and turd
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analysis. The book is loosely organized anatomicaly, from mouth to anus, entertaining, but not profound.

Useful and unusual word, noted as an aside about clinical words useful in general writing: periblepsis. "The wild-eyed look of delirium". This is not defined in a web search, nor in Stedman's medical dictionary, however.
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LibraryThing member kaulsu
Quintessentially Roach, this book tells you everything you were too embarrassed to ask about your digestive system. Through more research than most would even think about making, interviews, and even (you've got to pause here and take a breath) SPOILER ALERT, a colonoscopy without sedation, Roach
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is bound and determined to "tell all."

The book lost something, at least for me, because of the narration by Emily Woo Zeller. Roach is cute enough on her own. Her words convey her sly, dry sense of humor just fine. The bad accents Zeller employed detracted, rather than added, to my enjoyment.
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LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
This is my third Roach book, after Stiff (about corpses) and Packing for Mars (on space exploration). This one is about the digestive tract. Yes, really. All the books I've read by her are very entertaining and had me smiling throughout--though this was the first one (on page 229) that made me
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laugh out loud--a rare distinction and why this one is getting that fifth star. Roach dares to ask all the questions you wish you thought of--or wished you weren't too squeamish to ask. She'll tell you in this one all about the science of poop, farts, spit and more. Her last chapter is called "The Ick Factor." She says in her introduction she wants the reader "to say 'I thought this would be gross, but its really interesting.' Okay, and maybe a little gross." Mission accomplished.

Along the way though you do learn a lot of esoterica, and some useful medical facts, too. Such as the basic tastes are sweet, bitter, salty, sour--and umami (brothy). I thought it was only the first four. Did you know that "catfish are basically swimming tongues"? That Sudanese use a condiment of fermented cow dung? That"laundry detergent is essentially a digestive tract in a box." That an effective medical treatment is to introduce useful microorganisms by transplanting them using another's feces? Roach also takes a shot at debunking food fads such as probiotic foods, gluten-free and the fetish for fiber. (Good luck on that--food myths are immortal.) Definitely a great read--just not while you're eating.
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LibraryThing member rivkat
Roach likes the weird and the bodily, so that’s what you get, from the importance of saliva to whether mealworms can survive in a lizard’s gut long enough to get out to smuggling contraband via the anal cavity. Entertaining, if scattered.
LibraryThing member knightlight777
I'm probably in the minority on this one but I did not much like the book. I had read her book "Stiff" and cannot remember much about it either. Mary Roach picks interesting topics to write on and then cleverly packages them with attention getting titles and flashy covers to draw you in.

The problem
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I have in her writing is her style. There were snippets of interesting things I learned in the book, but her cutesy meandering is all over the board and distracting. Coupled with her continuous "madcap" side stories which I felt was more to add bulk to the book then anything made for me not a great read.
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LibraryThing member tloeffler
This time, Mary Roach takes on the digestive system, again in her own inimitable way. From spit to shit, she takes us on a cruise down the alimentary canal, that is sometimes hilarious, sometimes disgusting, but never, ever dull. Mary takes the questions we would never ask and asks them, and gives
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us the answers in a way that keeps us reading, like watching a train wreck.
Accompanied by her usual pictures and footnotes, it is a romp that I can't resist.
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Pages

352

ISBN

0393348741 / 9780393348743

Lexile

1100L
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