Summary | Excerpt | Reviews | Beyond the book | Readalikes | Genres & Themes | Author Bio
Critics' Opinion:
Readers' Opinion:
First Published:
Apr 2013, 336 pages
Paperback:
Apr 2014, 352 pages
Book Reviewed by:
Elizabeth Whitmore Funk
Buy This Book
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 a unforgettable tour of our insides. The alimentary canal is classic Mary Roach terrain: the questions inspired by our insides 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 names 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? We meet scientists who tackle the questions no one else thinks - or has the courage - to ask. And we go on location to a pet-food taste-test lab, a bacteria transplant, and into a live stomach to observe the fate of a meal.
Like all of Roach's books, Gulp is as much about human beings as it is about human bodies. 15 illustrations
Introduction
In 1968, on the Berkeley campus of the University of California, six young men undertook an irregular and unprecedented act. Despite the setting and the social climate of the day, it involved no civil disobedience or mind-altering substances. Given that it took place in the nutritional sciences department, I cannot even say with confidence that the participants wore bell-bottomed pants or sideburns of unusual scope. I know only the basic facts: the six men stepped inside a metabolic chamber and remained for two days, testing meals made from dead bacteria.
This was the fevered dawn of space exploration; NASA had Mars on its mind. A spacecraft packed with all the food necessary for a two-year mission would be impracticably heavy to launch. Thus there was a push to develop menu items that could be "bioregenerated," that is to say, farmed on elements of the astronauts' waste. The title of the paper nicely sums the results: "Human Intolerance to Bacteria as Food." ...
For those who have not read Mary Roach books before, Gulp is a good place to start. In her signature style, she has framed her singular subject with humor, unwavering curiosity, offbeat research and quirky facts. Her dry wit, approachable tone, and careful dollops of academic research make for a book that feels familiar, but also startlingly fresh and innovative...continued
Full Review
(591 words).
This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access,
become a member today.
(Reviewed by Elizabeth Whitmore Funk).
Steven Pinker, author of How the Mind Works and The Better Angels of Our Nature
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! Carl Zimmer, author of Evolution: Making Sense of Life and Parasite Rex
Mary Roach put her hand in a cow’s stomach for you, dear reader. If you don't read Gulp, then that was all for naught. Plus, you'll miss out on the funniest book ever written about guts.Gulp is a book about the digestive system. Describe it this way and your friends are probably unlikely to read it. But if they're aware of the ways Mary Roach approaches her content by incorporating anecdotes, focusing on the unusual details, and including the memorable characters who have peppered her research, the whole experience becomes much more worthwhile.
The genre of popular science writing lies between academic literature and personal narrative. While Roach's particular brand of quirkiness is unique, a growing number of popular science writers are making the genre accessible to millions of readers. Among the contemporaries are Oliver Sacks, Dr. Atul Gawande and even Bill Bryson, who while more commonly perceived as a travel...
This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.
More books by Mary Roach
If you liked Gulp, try these:
The Lady's Handbook for Her Mysterious Illness
by Sarah Ramey
Published 2020
The darkly funny memoir of Sarah Ramey's years-long battle with a mysterious illness that doctors thought was all in her head - but wasn't. A revelation and an inspiration for millions of women whose legitimate health complaints are ignored.
by Bill Bryson
Published 2019
Bill Bryson, bestselling author of A Short History of Nearly Everything, takes us on a head-to-toe tour of the marvel that is the human body. As addictive as it is comprehensive, this is Bryson at his very best, a must-read owner's manual for everybody.
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
A new novel from the NY Times bestselling author of Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.
Reader Reviews
An unforgettable epic shortlisted for the 2020 Booker Prize, and named a best book of the year by the New York Times.
About the book
Memorial Drive
by Natasha Trethewey
The moving, intimate story of a poet coming into her own in the wake of tragedy.
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
Subscribe to receive some of our best reviews, "beyond the book" articles, book club info, and giveaways by email.
