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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
Gulp is one of the most disgusting books I have ever read. Disgustingly brilliant and fascinating! Mary Roach is the queen of taking taboo subjects (death, sex, war, the alimentary canal, etc.) and breaking them down into compulsively readable books that everyone can appreciate. Gulp takes a look at everyone's favorite organ, the alimentary canal (I mean who doesn't love the poop emoji?!), and takes a deep fascinating look at it. There is a chapter on the properties and uses of spit, a chapter on constipation (learn more about Elvis!), a chapter on on overeating or over chewing, studies on competitive food eaters. Everything you could ever want to know about what happens to food between when it enters your mouth until it gets shit out (so much about poop!), is covered in this fascinating nonfiction book. Read it! Soo interesting and hilariously (yet reverently) written.
adventurous
funny
informative
medium-paced
Interesting, but I was consistently put off by Roach's style, which struck me as trying a bit too hard to be cute.
Entertaining information, though unnecessary, but very engaging. Tidbits make wonderful conversation starters for those who aren't squeamish.
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
This was an interesting guide down the digestive trail. I learned new information on how our bodies work, but the book leans more towards medical oddities than the average.
Having read Mary Roach’s Stiff and Bonk, I knew what I was getting into diving into Gulp. Roach is curious and unafraid both to ask any question and to write down the unfiltered answer. And then she puts all the information she has collected into easily readable prose, even when it is on topics of health, medicine and science. To top it off, she adds plenty of sly humor.
Here, she explores all the parts of the body’s digestive system, leaving out no gory details. Anyone who doesn’t care to talk about, think about, or read about saliva or poop should probably steer clear. But if you’re medically minded or live with someone who works in the medical field (as I do), and your conversations already include potty and body talk, you’ll be just fine.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/gulp-adventures-on-the-alimentary-canal-nonfiction-science-medicine-book/
Here, she explores all the parts of the body’s digestive system, leaving out no gory details. Anyone who doesn’t care to talk about, think about, or read about saliva or poop should probably steer clear. But if you’re medically minded or live with someone who works in the medical field (as I do), and your conversations already include potty and body talk, you’ll be just fine.
Read my full review, including a rating for content, at RatedReads.com: https://ratedreads.com/gulp-adventures-on-the-alimentary-canal-nonfiction-science-medicine-book/
funny
informative
I had high expectations for Gulp. I’ve read Roach’s books Stiff and Spook, so I had a pretty good idea of her writing style and what to expect from this book. I’m happy to report that Gulp exceeded my already high expectations and was probably the most fun of any book I’ve read so far this year. Mary Roach asks the most uncomfortable questions, the ones you always wondered but didn’t want to ask for fear of being a weirdo. Well, she’s like our representative weirdo, and there was much rejoicing! At first I was skeptical about how much strangeness there could be to discover about the human digestive system, but it’s there!
A warning: Gulp is not for the weak of stomach, or people who get nauseous thinking of things like vomit, feces (eating your own), compacted colons, or having a permanent hole giving external access to your stomach. If any of those topics sound like things you can’t handle reading about, this is not the book for you. That said, I finally found out the answers to many things I’d wondered. For example, why do rodents and dogs eat their own poo? Vitamins! How does it benefit Inuits to eat all parts of their kills? Vitamins! You get the picture.
Still, in the wrong hands this book could have been boring. Fortunately, Roach is constantly adding her own asides and internal narrative to the reader in the form of footnotes and parenthetical statements. I would love to have lunch with her. She seems cool.
I can’t stress enough how much fun Gulp was to read. I’ve been raving about it to my friends, and I’ll rave about it here. This is going to be a reread for me one of these days, because it’s so chock full of information that I know I’ll need multiple passes to retain much of it. Then I’ll go around regurgitating it to all of my friends, like a mother bird to her chick.
A warning: Gulp is not for the weak of stomach, or people who get nauseous thinking of things like vomit, feces (eating your own), compacted colons, or having a permanent hole giving external access to your stomach. If any of those topics sound like things you can’t handle reading about, this is not the book for you. That said, I finally found out the answers to many things I’d wondered. For example, why do rodents and dogs eat their own poo? Vitamins! How does it benefit Inuits to eat all parts of their kills? Vitamins! You get the picture.
Still, in the wrong hands this book could have been boring. Fortunately, Roach is constantly adding her own asides and internal narrative to the reader in the form of footnotes and parenthetical statements. I would love to have lunch with her. She seems cool.
I can’t stress enough how much fun Gulp was to read. I’ve been raving about it to my friends, and I’ll rave about it here. This is going to be a reread for me one of these days, because it’s so chock full of information that I know I’ll need multiple passes to retain much of it. Then I’ll go around regurgitating it to all of my friends, like a mother bird to her chick.
Not as good as Roach's "Grunt" but still enjoyable. Some of it (namely the saliva chapter) was a disgusting slog, but other parts (gut bacteria) was interesting and easy to read.
Would recommend to anyone slightly interested in the digestive system.
Would recommend to anyone slightly interested in the digestive system.