Library's review
Gulp contains all the fascinating science and irreverent humor that Roach readers have come to know and love. The topic in question being the digestive system from nose to tail (literally), it is perhaps not for the squeamish. If you're not interested in the journey that food takes on its way from one end of you to the other, this may not be the book for you. Unless, of course, you care less about the subject and like to revel in thoroughly researched, intelligent, and witty writing that takes neither itself nor its subject too seriously.
Also, if you are a fan of Elvis, as I am/was, you will find the chapter detailing the likely cause of his death to be mind-boggling. Let's just say they never mentioned any of this on the Graceland tour!
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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)