Review of 'Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Look, I’m not a squeamish person, and the fact that this is a book about the human digestive system should serve as fair warning about the material, but even I found some of these essays too “icky” to read. I also have a very hard time reading about cruelty to animals, and there’s a lot of recounting of historical medical experiments here. All that’s to say that while I find Roach’s writing style incredibly entertaining, I had to skim over a lot of this. I know how popular she is, and this is the first book I’ve read by her, so I think I’ll give her a second chance with some different subject matter.
Review of 'Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
This is Mary Roach at her best, with all of her classic points: a one-word, evocative, title a subject matter dancing just on the edge of the taboo line, dealt with in one part investigative journalism, one part completely unsquashable curiosity and one part a mix of stream-of-consciousness and "I just can't help but share" anecdotes.
Those who disliked Roach's previous works will hate Gulp, and those who liked her previous works will love it. The dislike largely stems from her highly present narration, and that is out in full force here. Doctors that she has known with hilariously apropos names, completely tangential stuff she found while doing research, boilerplate responses from Oster regarding an e-mail inquiry about their blenders being used for fecal transplate and much, much more abound in the frequent footnotes (average density seems to be about 1.5 footnotes/page.) New sections are usually introduced with commentary about …
This is Mary Roach at her best, with all of her classic points: a one-word, evocative, title a subject matter dancing just on the edge of the taboo line, dealt with in one part investigative journalism, one part completely unsquashable curiosity and one part a mix of stream-of-consciousness and "I just can't help but share" anecdotes.
Those who disliked Roach's previous works will hate Gulp, and those who liked her previous works will love it. The dislike largely stems from her highly present narration, and that is out in full force here. Doctors that she has known with hilariously apropos names, completely tangential stuff she found while doing research, boilerplate responses from Oster regarding an e-mail inquiry about their blenders being used for fecal transplate and much, much more abound in the frequent footnotes (average density seems to be about 1.5 footnotes/page.) New sections are usually introduced with commentary about what made Roach reach out to this particular person and how she feels on meeting them. The narration in fact is so present in Gulp, even compared to her previous works, that honestly, it skirts memoir territory. I consider that a win, your mileage may vary, as they say.
Meanwhile, Roach again makes the lowest of lowbrow topics palatable (sorry -- couldn't resist!) if not downright classy. For a book with an entire chapter on flatulence, it's entertaining, funny and interesting even to those of us who wouldn't dream of laughing at a fart joke. You didn't know that you wanted to know why some animals eat their own feces, the history of gastrocutaneous fistulas, the science of the chemical composition of farts, or what human tasters think of cat food and why, but Roach's curiosity is contagious and she can make any subject matter fascinating.
Review of 'Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
With each new book by Mary Roach, I hope that I will find it as captivating as her first, Stiff (that's the one about dead bodies). All her books are wonderful, but Stiff was really special.
I think I might feel about Gulp the way I feel about Stiff. It's really special. I can't wait to read it again.
Review of 'Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Fascinating book! From what we eat to where it goes and all the details in between (and I do mean all the details), the alimentary canal is fascinating. Did you know beef lung has more vitamin C than a tangerine? Or what really killed Elvis? And I learned more than I ever expected to know about methods for smuggling items into prisons. I got the Audible edition and it's very well read with an extremely charismatic narrator. Highly recommended unless you're extremely squeamish about, well, the messy details of life.
