A review by bhsmith
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal by Mary Roach
5.0
I'm fortunate that in my professional life I'm given plenty of opportunities to write. I enjoy it, and from time to time I've been told that I'm pretty good at it. The bulk of my writing ends up as words on a television screen or in an app or on a website. Rarely do I get the chance to actually write something that will be printed and distributed to a wider audience. I've often thought, though, that it might be fun to write more with the intent of being published on a larger scale. For an abundance of reasons I've never acted on this far-off thought. But, I have come to the following conclusion: If I were to write a book or an article, I'd want to write just like Mary Roach.
Mary Roach does two things that I find so appealing with her writing. 1) She takes some of the most ordinary stuff that surrounds us (in this book it was our bodily process from ingestion to excretion, but in the past it has been death, sex, ghosts, etc) and thinks, "Yeah, this is interesting! I wonder why nobody has written about this before." And, 2) She applies a light-hearted touch to each topic, treating it with respect, good humor and scholarly insight. This combination makes for some truly fascinating and fun reading.
"Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" follows a pretty clear path from our mouths all the way to... the other end of things. There is some wonderful research that has been done on all of these processes, and Roach makes that information interesting and accessible to everyone. Plus, she ventures around the world to meet some of the real people doing real research on these topics today. Roach isn't afraid to get dirty (or, in the case of this book, a little stinky) to befriend these experts and ask some of the real questions all of us are thinking. (Want to hear Elvis's doctor talk about the King's megacolon, anyone?)
A warning: You probably don't want to read this book while eating. (I often read during lunch, and had to change my habits a bit.) Also, be warned that if someone casually asks you, "Hey, watcha reading?", that you may find yourself in a difficult position trying to explain the topic. (My son asked, "What are you reading, Daddy?" and my honest response was, "I'm reading about poop." Which he found awesome and hilarious.)
By all means, read "Gulp." You'll fall in love with Mary Roach and I'm guessing will want to pick up everything else she has written.
Mary Roach does two things that I find so appealing with her writing. 1) She takes some of the most ordinary stuff that surrounds us (in this book it was our bodily process from ingestion to excretion, but in the past it has been death, sex, ghosts, etc) and thinks, "Yeah, this is interesting! I wonder why nobody has written about this before." And, 2) She applies a light-hearted touch to each topic, treating it with respect, good humor and scholarly insight. This combination makes for some truly fascinating and fun reading.
"Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal" follows a pretty clear path from our mouths all the way to... the other end of things. There is some wonderful research that has been done on all of these processes, and Roach makes that information interesting and accessible to everyone. Plus, she ventures around the world to meet some of the real people doing real research on these topics today. Roach isn't afraid to get dirty (or, in the case of this book, a little stinky) to befriend these experts and ask some of the real questions all of us are thinking. (Want to hear Elvis's doctor talk about the King's megacolon, anyone?)
A warning: You probably don't want to read this book while eating. (I often read during lunch, and had to change my habits a bit.) Also, be warned that if someone casually asks you, "Hey, watcha reading?", that you may find yourself in a difficult position trying to explain the topic. (My son asked, "What are you reading, Daddy?" and my honest response was, "I'm reading about poop." Which he found awesome and hilarious.)
By all means, read "Gulp." You'll fall in love with Mary Roach and I'm guessing will want to pick up everything else she has written.